Epic
by Koko-chan1
Summary: What was supposed to be a simple fight with a Hunter goes seriously wrong, sending Ayumu and the Blade Children into a downward spiral of events that will either destroy them all, or lead to salvation.  Yaoi EyesXKousukeXAyumu Threesome Original character
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Chapter: 1/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Author's Notes: First of all, this is very long with about two-thirds of it completed. Secondly, this begins right after episode 17, and for the sake of our memories, we found this site very useful for that /spiral/show/31756/episodeguide.html . Be forewarned that in addition to shounen-ai, there will be original characters, elements from both the anime and manga, and a deviation from both plotlines. We started this monster before any translations were available to us, so we just did our own thing. Comments and criticisms are highly appreciated, but please, no flames. Enjoy the read!

ooooo

Eyes Rutherford paced the expanse of the conservatory, every so often glancing out at the city bathed in the midday sun. A letter sat unfolded on the top of his piano, the words still echoing in his mind as if spoken by a voice that continued on even when his eyes weren't looking at the words.

_Dear Eyes,  
I hope this letter finds you well. Unfortunately, my visit will again be delayed by matters necessary to attend to here. However, I have recently been informed that another threat is close to you. Various sources at my disposal report that there is a Hunter being dispatched to see to sweet, unknowing Sayoko Shiranagatani, and her safety is no doubt compromised. I thought that it would be best to warn you, since you are in a better position to eliminate yet another threat to the Blade Children. I trust you will handle it as I have come to expect of you, especially after all of the special attention I have given you._

_Until next we meet,  
Kanone_

The musician didn't like the residual anxiousness that accompanied the letter that had arrived today. Not only did it mean trouble for the few Blade Children he looked out for here in Tokyo, but Kanone knew precisely how to word the letter to remind Eyes of the way things were. It was especially disconcerting considering that the last few months had been spent in a hectic and very intense pursuit of not only one Ayumu Narumi, but his own thoughts about someone else that had managed to get close to him. In the slowly-awakening affection he'd begun to enjoy from Kousuke Asazuki, he'd discovered that he didn't always like "the way things were". It was true that he and Kousuke fought quite literally like cats and dogs more than they had gotten along, but they'd patched up their rocky start with both of them giving just a little bit more in time and patience to what could possibly be more than just a hesitant partnership.

He was interrupted from his pacing by the sound of the door opening and none other than Kousuke walking in, not bothering to knock as usual. The expression on his pale face was determined, his green-gold cat eyes intent beneath the crimson bangs of his hair. He looked as if he'd been intending to demand something of Eyes, but he paused when he saw the tiniest signs of displeasure on the musician's face. "Your lips are compressed," he said, calling attention to Eyes's version of a tense scowl, "What's wrong?"

For a single moment, Eyes cursed the redhead's perception and attention to the very subtlety that the silver Blade Child relied upon for his own survival. He didn't mind the intrusion however, as he was getting rather used to them happening unannounced. "Another Hunter," he replied, turning away from the window to look at his companion gravely. "I just got word of it."

"Oh, joy of joys," Kousuke grumbled sarcastically, "I hope this one doesn't have a thing for rigged hotels. Exploding stairs make good exercise, but it gets boring after a while."

"No, it seems that this one would prefer to go against a target that doesn't know how to fight back," Eyes said, frowning just slightly at the recollection of what had happened while he had been away for a concert. He didn't intend on having that happen again.

"Wonderful," the redhead huffed. "I take it you know who the target is?"

Eyes gave a single nod. "Sayoko Shiranagatani."

"Ah. Shoulda expected that, I guess. If I was a Hunter, that's where I'd go. Or maybe not, considering the last one died at the hospital from...heh...complications."

"Complications indeed." Eyes knew that Sonobe's death had been Kousuke's fault, and perhaps in fact encouraged it in his own quiet way. "It means that she'll have to be watched."

"Maybe. But before that, we gotta talk." Kousuke said, his expression becoming determined again. "I want you to pull Ryoko out of this mess. I'm still kind of ticked that you dragged her into this in the first place."

Blue eyes blinked as he tilted his head, surprised at both his expression and the request that inspired it. "But I already went through the trouble of involving her. She is necessary now that Little Narumi knows Rio's face. We already agreed upon what she would and wouldn't do."

"That was before the Hunters got crazy and stupid enough to start taking hostages and rigging whole freaking buildings to explode. Ryoko hates to fight, you know that! And I don't want her in a place where she's going to get hurt!"

Eyes crossed his arms, looking at Kousuke with a stern expression. "And then what am I supposed to do about having someone else in the school with Narumi? At least Ryoko was a slightly less violent alternative so that just maybe we would have a chance at gaining his trust."

"It's not like I'm going to sneak up behind him and ram his face into one of the lunch tables!" Kousuke argued. "And Rio should be out of the hospital soon."

"Are you offering to take her place?"

Kousuke crossed his arms. "I already enrolled there, remember? I'll be nearby to make sure he doesn't get killed by someone other than us...not that I think you want any more of my little tests to be done."

"It shouldn't be necessary, especially not after Rio's test and your most recent encounter with the Hunters. It's a matter of trust now." He tilted his head, scrutinizing Kousuke's determination. "You really want me to remove her, don't you? You realize that we can't protect her if she's displaced from us."

Kousuke set his jaw, stubborn as ever. "Ryoko can take care of herself. But!" he said, interrupting Eyes before he could ask why she couldn't be left where she was if that was the case, "Right now, with both Narumi-ototou and you in the same area, the Hunters are converging on us. Ryoko can take care of herself in normal situations, but against the concentrated forces that are sure to come? I'm not willing to take that risk. Pull her out and send her somewhere safer."

Eyes took a slow breath, thinking it over for a quiet moment. It was true that she, out of any of them, stood the least chance of being able to handle the Hunters. True, she was tougher than most gave her credit for, but her absolute refusal to adopt the more vicious, self-defending tactics that Blade Children like himself, Kousuke and Rio relied upon put her in danger. He wasn't sure why it bothered him that Kousuke was so adamant, but he pushed that thought to the side, considering his reasons instead. "Fine," he finally answered. "I will...arrange for a better situation to make itself known and release her from our arrangement."

"You swear?"

"You have my word, Kousuke."

Kousuke relaxed as he heard those words, knowing that Eyes never went back on a promise. "Thanks. In return, I'll keep an eye on Narumi-ototou." He smiled slightly. "Not that that's an unpleasant prospect."

"Just make sure that 'keeping an eye on him' means that you don't scare him away," Eyes warned, turning back to the window that overlooked the city. His voice quieted a little as his slender fingers traced over the glass. "We need him."

"I'm hardly about to jump him in the halls and ravish him in a closet, either," Kousuke murmured, leaning against the wall, "But _maybe_ you're right, and we do need him, in more ways than one. The question is how to _get_ him?"

"The challenges and tests were meant to prove to him and to us that he could not only withstand Hunters, but also that he could be just as good as Kiyotaka," Eyes replied, watching Kousuke's movements in a reflection against the window. "The more we keep doing that, the more drawn to us he will be."

"Hmph," the redhead grunted, "Unless someone runs interference. I swear, if he's shacking up with that Hiyono girl, I'm going to get Rio to blow up her house."

"I highly doubt that's the case. However much she may want it, I just don't think that's the way he looks at her."

There was truth in that, and Kousuke couldn't help but snicker softly as he thought about the dynamic he had witnessed between the younger Narumi brother and his reporter-wannabe sidekick. "True. He usually looks dazed or confused instead of desiring. I still haven't figured out if it's because she's coming on too strong, or not strong enough."

That got a silver brow to rise. "I certainly never gave that any thought. She's just in the way. An...unexpected variable."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but if you try to cancel out that particular variable, Narumi-ototou's going to go into the negative."

"Little Narumi has separated himself from everything," Eyes pointed out with an almost inaudible sigh. "And the only reason he hasn't shut her out is because she's simply too stubborn for that."

Kousuke made a face, not really liking the fact that they were being beaten out by a girl who sang weird songs with lyrics that made no sense. "At least we have _some_ links to him, however tenuous. His obsession with finding his brother, for one."

"I almost wish I knew where Kiyotaka was." It almost sounded as if he should have been wearing a wistful expression, but his face betrayed nothing. "If his younger brother can truly help save us, I feel as if we should offer him something in return."

"Whatever," the redhead replied with a shrug. "I don't think he can save us. Everything's been planned and plotted to the point where it's not possible to change Fate. But of course, that's not really the point here. The point is that even if we knew, we couldn't tell him. Otherwise, he'd stop chasing."

"And thus never believe in what he's actually capable of doing," Eyes conceded the point with a nod. "As for believing in him, I'm not entirely sure that I do either, but it's worth trying." His hand came up to brush a few strands of silver away from his face.

"Bah. If he can't learn to have confidence in himself and his judgments, he's no help at all. You weren't there for either of Rio's tests. Even when he got the right answer with the strychnine in the hospital, he was too much of a pussy to really follow through. And the thing with the tape? Hah! He gets the key _and _the tape _and_ outwits myself and Rio, and he _still_ just moans about how he's not good enough. For someone so damn clever, he's amazingly dense."

"But that just runs in the family, doesn't it?" Eyes said, tilting his head. "And all this time, he's had it thrown in his face how much better Kiyotaka is, it's like the reverse psychology of the boy who cried wolf. Instead of learning to know it for a lie, his wolf kept coming back to stare in his face. That wolf was his own making."

"Maybe, but it's still damn frustrating."

Eyes nodded his head once again. "I wonder how many times he will exceed our expectations before he obtains the confidence he needs." He finally turned away from the window completely, approaching Kousuke. "I hope that we're still alive then."

Kousuke gave Eyes a significant look over the rims of those ever-present yellow shades. "I intend to be, but if you keep pulling stunts like you did with that sniper, I don't know about you." Though his tone was reproachful, there was concern in the green-gold eyes. As much as Kousuke tried to hide it, he worried about Eyes.

The corners of Eyes's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to smile but couldn't quite do it. Even if he could, it likely wouldn't have reached his bright blue gaze. "I think you know precisely why I did it that way. Don't you?"

One crimson eyebrow raised, and then Kousuke rolled his eyes. "You mean _besides_ scare me to death and make me act like an overprotective idiot in front of Narumi-ototou? No, not really."

"I don't play by anyone else's rules." His eyes were intent as he met Kousuke's. "Not a Hunter's, not even Little Narumi's. I may not be able to outrun Fate, but there are certainly better ways to die, so I'll make that happen on my terms for as long as I can."

Kousuke's expression hardened as his temper was roused, his eyes flashing with molten intensity as they glared into endless blue. "Maybe," he growled, "but that won't stop me from playing by _my_ own rules to try and keep you alive. I am _not _going to be the one that has to go to Kanone and tell him you got yourself killed!"

Eyes sensed that depending on his answers, the flash in those eyes before him could mean the downward spiral into another of their arguments. "You don't think he wouldn't approve?" Eyes's voice never reached above the pitch he always held, but there was something underneath it, as if that something had stolen his ability to yell. "Whether we follow Fate or not, Blade Children still don't answer to Hunters, nor do we die by them. Do you think he'd want us skulking in the shadows when we have the skill to defeat the Hunters at their own game?"

Something that looked suspiciously like hurt passed through Kousuke's eyes, even as he glowered at his leader. Then he looked away, his expression closing down into something unreadable. "So you'd rather I didn't care when you put yourself in danger?" he whispered, "That I do nothing when someone threatens your life?" He shook his head and forced that familiar cocky grin onto his face, the jesters' mask his best defense, and the one he was most skilled at. "Well, thanks but no thanks, Fearless Leader. Kanone freaks me out, and I'm not doing anything that makes me have to talk to him. He's spooky."

This time, Eyes's sigh was audible, the only sign that he would allow for the tightening in his chest as that look of hurt didn't pass unnoticed. He lowered his head, lovely argent hair falling forward to curtain his face, hiding an expression that he wasn't sure he wanted seen. "I never said that no one should care." He wouldn't admit that Kanone intimidated him, but he had been the closest thing to a leader the Blade Children had once had, the one who taught them how to stand up and fight against the Hunters in the first place.

"Then don't expect me to act that way!" Kousuke shot back, turning to look at Eyes once more. "Maybe I can't _stop_ you when you do things like that, but I can sure as hell complain about it. Hells, half the time I think Kanone's just waiting for one of us to slip up anyway, just so he can come down and terrorize us all. Or hang off you like a sex-crazed anaconda." The redhead paused, and tilted his head in thought. "Hm. Is it possible to do both at the same time..?"

"Aren't you being a little unreasonable?" the pianist asked, his tone hushed as if he didn't want someone unseen to hear. And it would not have been difficult for Kousuke to guess who that unseen shadow might be. His hand came up to rub the opposite arm as if he were cold. "You make Kanone out to be--" Eyes couldn't think of an appropriate comparison, so he let the sentence linger.

That caused Kousuke to smirk and shrug, though he inwardly did feel a little sorry for Eyes. "You're right, I'm exaggerating. This is Kanone, after all, and he'd act like a _subtle_ sex-crazed anaconda."

"Kousuke..." The same hand as before moved again, and this time he dared to slowly lift it. His fingertips brushed the side of the redhead's face. "I don't wish to talk about Kanone anymore."

The grin on Kousuke's face faded, becoming something much sadder but far more real. He lifted one of his own hands up to cover Eyes's, surprisingly gentle. "Sorry," he whispered, feeling a little bad about the look in the other Blade Child's eyes. He still hadn't quite figured out where the limit to teasing lay between them, so he still crossed the line every now and again.

Eyes distantly wondered why the other Blade Child's touch felt so warm against his own skin. Was he really as cold to the touch as he felt? "Our future is unknown, our survival is questionable. I don't want to contemplate what happens if we fail or if Little Narumi cannot save us. I would like to learn how to feel before I die."

"I dunno," Kousuke sighed, rubbing his thumb over the back of Eyes's hand in a gentle motion, daring for just a little while to actually show the affection he held for his leader and friend. "Feelings are all well and good, but mortal terror sucks."

"I suppose that's not the best thing to start with," he replied. The touch was reassuring, and Eyes hoped that Kousuke could see how much it meant in his gaze, since he couldn't quite let the smile pull at his lips yet. "You're right."

It seemed that he could, because the redhead's gemlike eyes softened a little more, and he allowed a rare genuine smile to grace his lips. "Of course. The Great and Powerful Kousuke-sama is _always_ right."

A bit of a nod was all Eyes needed to show that he agreed, even if it was only to make Kousuke happy. "Doesn't it ever get tiring to know everything, Kousuke?" he teased, his tone barely changing, but there was a softness to it that let the redhead know he was joking.

"Well yes," Kousuke replied, his smile becoming impish, "but when the pressure of my obvious omniscience becomes too much for me to bear, I just go talk to Rio. She then proceeds to give me a heaping dose of reality and make me feel like a total idiot. Quite refreshing, really."

"I should have expected such a thing," Eyes said, a soft exhalation of breath sounding somewhat close to a laugh. "Trust Rio to put you in your place." Why couldn't he smile? Between them, it was always like this. Kousuke had a knack for saying or doing the right things to provoke a smile, but it almost hurt for Eyes to give him even the slightest acknowledgement. He couldn't complain though. He'd done it all himself, he'd made himself this way to avoid fate.

Kousuke didn't mind the unresponsiveness of the Brit too much. While it was sometimes a little daunting, he was becoming quite adept in reading all the small signs that passed for change of expression on the other boy. And he understood that their relationship was still too new to expect the gigantic amount of trust that it would take for Eyes to lower his walls. There were times when Kousuke still had trouble lowering his when they were alone, after all. Still, for right now it was enough to just be near him and sometimes see this softer side of the pianist.

"Kousuke..." he began quietly, his blue eyes fixing on the gold."It's...only going to get more difficult from now on. I don't need Kanone to tell me that. We're outnumbered and one boy who doesn't have the power to believe is our last chance at hope. Are you sure you want to remain here with me? You and Rio are free to go whenever you please."

Kousuke sighed, slowly lowering both his eyes and their clasped hands. "You know I don't personally believe he can change our fate. Not yet. If he can, he needs to grow up a little first. But what both I and Rio do believe in is you, and the fact that if we don't at least try, that makes us no better than the dolls they want to turn us into." He looked up into Eyes's sapphire gaze again, his own eyes determined. "And I'm not about to leave you alone against the world. Knowing you, you'd just run out and do something that put you in danger again. I'm not abandoning you to anyone, not even Kanone."

Eyes held Kousuke's gaze for a few moments longer before he nodded once. "You're probably right. I'm not good at staying out of sight." It made him feel better that Rio and Kousuke still believed in him. For awhile now, he felt like he'd been stumbling around blindly, Kanone's letters from wherever he was doing nothing to help him figure things out. He knew where his brother stood, and the letters were probably meant more to entice him to the "right" side than to actually save him from the Hunters. At least with Kousuke and Rio, he knew that they all had the same plan in mind, no ulterior motives. Their only differences were the degrees in which they trusted Ayumu to save them. Rio's near-absolute faith, his wavering doubts, and Kousuke's blatant disbelief until he was proven wrong. "Thank you," Eyes murmured after a moment.

Kousuke grinned and reached up to brush back a long strand of silver hair. "Aw, don't mention it. I'm doing this because Rio would kill me if I let you get in trouble. You may be the unofficial Leader-sama, but _she_ scares me." His tone may have been light, but the softness of his golden eyes belied it, showing the care that hid beneath the jester's mask.

It was that care that Eyes managed to see which flared his hope. It wasn't Kiyotaka's words of inspiration, it had nothing to do with fate. It was the reality that he wasn't really alone that made him believe he could evade what had been set out for him. "Kousuke..." He felt there was something he should have been able to say, but he couldn't find it. He leaned forward slowly and pressed his lips to the redhead's. The movement was slight, not much pressure, but the meaning had more power to it than the gesture itself.

Kousuke froze in shock for a second, but that was normal for the redhead. He had never been one to take surprises well, and the kiss was totally unexpected. Still, he booted his brain back into action and hesitantly raised his arms to wrap around Eyes, keeping the hold loose in case the other didn't like it. Golden eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into the kiss, returning the light pressure and feeling his heart swell with the knowledge of Eyes's affection.

It was strange...to have someone's arms around him that weren't Kanone's. It had taken a brief second to register that difference so that he wouldn't offend Kousuke by pulling away. His experiences with such things were rare, but he made the most of it, holding the pressure for as long as it felt right before hesitantly withdrawing. He didn't leave the seemingly protective circle of Kousuke's arms, however, not feeling the immediate urge to escape. He felt as if he should have apologized for taking advantage of the moment, but instead, he just lowered his head.

Kousuke took a chance and tightened the hold just a little. He liked the feeling of having Eyes in his arms. Sure, their relationship was very new and not terribly deep, but that hadn't stopped Kousuke from daydreaming about the softer stuff, even if neither of them were really sure they could trust the other that much just yet.

The trust was a large issue. When Eyes had first begun to slip away from Kanone, he thought that he would be defying the Saviors alone. That Kousuke and Rio had joined up with him was indeed a surprise, but he'd accepted them, always guarding his back just in case they turned out to be under Kanone. It was difficult, but he had to have learned something, or he wouldn't be allowing Kousuke to hold him like this.

Kousuke felt like he wanted to hold Eyes like this forever. But he knew it wasn't really possible. For one thing, they'd both get damn bored with just remaining stationary after a while, and two, Rio could pop in at any minute, and neither of them was really ready to have others know just yet. Even if Kousuke suspected that she already knew. Rio was sneaky like that.

Eyes let out another soft sight and very gently pulled away. He wanted Kousuke to know that it he wasn't unhappy with their moment of comfort with each other, but he had the same things on his mind as the redhead. "We need to work on the next plan. Now that we've been alerted to the presence of another Hunter, I don't want to wait for him to get to us first, as they have before."

Kousuke nodded and let go of Eyes without complaint. For now, this was enough, and he turned his mind to business as usual. "Maybe we should lure the Hunter out and kill him quickly? It's annoying to wait for their death threats, and the freaking out part when they target you gives me a headache."

"You mean because I'm not as cautious as you would prefer?" Eyes asked, and inwardly, he was amused. He knew that it had bothered both Kousuke and Ayumu when he'd gone against the younger Narumi's plans to take matters into his own hands. He was too clever to die just yet, too stubborn to let someone dictate how he'd live, and too set in the belief that he still called the shots.

"Well, yeah." Kousuke replied. "Look Eyes, like it or not, you're the one leading this motley little group. What would happen to Rio and me if you bit the big one? For all her maturity, Rio's not a leader, and I can barely lead a dog to its food bowl, let alone lead her! You've got other lives besides your own on the line when you take risks like that." _And I don't think I could bear it to watch you die,_ the look in his eyes said.

"It's not that I'm not thinking of you." Eyes walked quietly over to sit at his piano, but like so often lately, his gaze was what touched the keys, not his fingers. "I have every intention of surviving when I make the plans I do. It's just that I prefer to survive on my own terms. I could fight, but if I can evade them without killing, it would be the more preferable choice."

Kousuke sighed and plopped into a nearby chair, somehow managing to look bonelessly graceful while doing so. "I guess that's where we differ. I'd rather kill them and eliminate the danger of them returning to try again."

"By killing, we are one step closer to being what _he_ wanted us to be." Eyes knew he could kill. And that he could probably do it without a second thought or a backwards glance.

"I don't think so. That would just be killing anyone, anywhere, for no reason. When I kill, it's because someone has threatened me or my family. And I would have killed that Hunter at the concert, if I had been able."

Eyes let out a soft sigh, staring at the ivory as if it held all the answers he was looking for. "I know you would have. And I wouldn't have held it against you."

Kousuke smirked. "Of course not! He was getting in the way of you being adored by all your lady fans, ne?" the redhead teased, settling into a comfortable sprawl within the large chair, his legs dangling over one arm while his head rested on the other.

His eyebrow lifted again. "The female fans are the loudest ones."

Kousuke laughed. "That's not true. The loudest ones are your staff, since you keep changing plans on them."

"They can deal with it."

Kousuke chuckled. "You say that now, but what will you do when one of the organizers finally blows a gasket and tries to shave you bald?"

"What, and ruin that precious superficial beauty that they all seem to like? She would probably fear for her own safety." He tilted his head. "If she did that to me, she might have a hundred other women bearing down with weapons in hand.

_And one guy,_ Kousuke added, but kept the thought to himself. He wasn't ready to open himself that much and show his affections so obviously. "True. But people do odd things in the state of madness." He stretched, his long body arching as his arms reached above his head. "So, what do you think we should do about this new Hunter of ours? I'm all for laying bait and luring him _away_ from Sayoko and into some sort of fatal little trap, but what would you prefer?"

Eyes knew how to get Kousuke to react, and he glanced in the other Blade Child's direction. "Are you in need of bait? I could free up a night."

"Gack!" Kousuke momentarily freaked, losing all his grace, agility, and sadly, his balance. He fell out of the chair and landed in a heap. "Don't you _dare_!!"

As much as Eyes found that amusing, there was a bit of truth to it. It would require an actual Blade Child to be bait for any Hunter, and Eyes was willing to do it himself rather than put Rio or Kousuke. Especially since Rio was still healing and Kousuke didn't have as much fighting skill. "Our options are rather limited, Kousuke."

Kousuke righted himself and glared at his silver-haired friend and leader. "Still, no way in hell! You're not stupid, you're not expendable, and you're not going. If anything, I should be bait, since Rio's still healing."

Eyes managed to hide the fact that the concept bothered him. "I suppose you may have a point, but are you volunteering because you really want to, or to keep me from going?"

"Both." Kousuke replied promptly, removing his yellow glasses to check them for damage from the tumble. "Not only are you not as expendable as I am, but there's just the fact that you never go walking out around town unless you have to. To do so now would be out of character, and the Hunter might notice that and be suspicious. I, however, like to wander around and cause chaos, so catching me out and about won't seem strange. And while I'm not the demon you are in a fight, I _can_ hold my own."

"I wasn't suggesting that you couldn't, Kousuke." There was something in the way that he said the redhead's name that was different from the rest of his tone. As if it had more meaning than anything else. It sometimes happened with Rio too, as if the only thing that broke the chain of his aloofness was the people that surrounded him. "And I hate to bend to the fact that you're right."

Kousuke grinned. "Hey, what did I say before? The great and powerful Kousuke-sama is _always_ right!"

"And quite modest too."

Kousuke shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, my antics _do_ seem to amuse you, so it's all good." He hopped to his feet, lithe as a cat, and walked over to stand behind Eyes at the piano. "So, do we actually use my bait idea, or do you have any other ideas?" Times like this, Kousuke wished Rio was here. She was always good for plans.

"It sounds like the bait idea is all we have for the moment. Hunters won't be particular about _who _they kill at this point. Still, I don't think that Rio's going to like it anymore than I do. I'm not sure if Ayumu cares at this point." The presence behind Eyes was reassuring, and he almost leaned back, but remained where he was.

Kousuke shrugged. "I don't think we should drag Narumi-ototou in on this anyway. Call me a sick bastard--which I am--but I really don't think he'd be able to handle me eviscerating someone in broad daylight."

Eyes nodded. "You may be right about that. It might just end up that he gets involved anyway, but I'd rather not instigate such a connection. If it happens, it might be more in tune with fate than we can control."

"I was thinking more that he'd freak out and run away, never to return, but yeah, that's also true." Kousuke replied, absently playing with a strand of Eyes's silver hair.

Without really thinking about it, the musician's head tipped back in the direction of Kousuke's hand. "What you say is a good point as well, but I have a feeling he might keep coming back until he hears what he wants to about Kiyotaka. Unfortunately, that might be all we're good for to him."

Kousuke sighed, but a slight smile stayed on his face. "Well, I guess you'll just have to exercise that infamous Eyes Rutherford charm of yours to nab more than his curiosity about his brother." He let his hands wander lower, resting on the Brit's shoulders as a silent offering of a shoulder rub.

"Hn. Charm." He said that as if he didn't believe he had it, though it had been proven somehow time and again. Against his usual better judgment, he didn't pull away from Kousuke's hands, allowing that tentative trust to hang between them just a little longer.

Kousuke immediately started to wring the tension out of the musician's shoulders. "Yup, charm. As crazy as it sounds. What _is_ it about the silent type that drives admirers nuts?"

"I don't know, but whoever solves that mystery might find something to gain from it." A bit of a groan left his lips as Kousuke's hands dug into his shoulders, kneading out knots he hadn't even noticed until now. His head fell forward, argent hair slipping down to curtain his pale features.

The redhead let out a small chuckle as he watched Eyes reluctantly relax. Who would have thought that he was such a slave to simple massage? "You tense too much. I'd tell you to go on vacation, but knowing you, nowhere in the world would be safe. If it isn't hoards of fangirls, it'll be hired killers."

"Such is the life of Eyes Rutherford, I suppose," Eyes said, giving the slightest shrug so he wouldn't dislodge the hands. He didn't sound resentful of it; rather he accepted that as his life.

"Hai, hai," Kousuke sighed, digging at a particularly stubborn spot. "So I'll stake out that creepy old manor, huh? Hopefully if they see me first, they'll forget about her long enough for me to kill them."

Eyes hissed softly at the spot of tension, but let out his breath slowly. "They're going to assume she's the easier target."

Kousuke made a small 'tsk'ing sound as he continued to work. Most of the tension was melting away, leaving relaxation in its wake. "Well, that's not very nice. I'll have to go wander around there and look conspicuous. I'm good at conspicuous."

"Without even trying," Eyes confirmed, shaking his head. "You're really not going to be talked out of being bait, are you?"

"When the only other choices are you, Rio, and Sayoko? No, not really." Kousuke replied, removing his hands now that the tension in Eyes's shoulders was gone.

Eyes slumped just a little more in his seat, but made no more movement than that. "I suppose I'll agree, but you'd better be careful."

Kousuke waved the concern away with an airy wave of his hand. "Please, I'm a Blade Child, ne? What can happen?"

"Please don't try to find out," Eyes said, his voice the same as ever but with a hint of imploring to it.

"Don't worry. This is a game of cat and mouse. And I almost never lose at my own games." Kousuke smiled and put his shades back on. "I should go arm up and take a walk. I should be back by nightfall."

"And if you're not?" Eyes asked, his head remaining lowered. His hand reached out, catching the redhead's sleeve. He knew already that if Kousuke didn't come back that night, he was going to go after his companion.

Green-golden eyes glanced at the pale hand clutching his sleeve before softening and rising to look at Eyes again. "_If_ I'm not, bring backup with you. If this person catches me, I don't want you going alone. Take Rio...and maybe Narumi-ototou, if you can persuade him. But not the Hiyono girl. The thought of being rescued by a girl who punches with teddy bears makes me cringe."

Eyes turned his gaze up to Kousuke, something highly unreadable in his expression. Today's subtle incidents had let him know just how much he cared about his little team of defiance. They were more than just renegade Blade Children together. "You _have _to be careful."

The redhead gave another of those rare, genuine smiles and clasped the pale hand between his own, bringing the back of it up to his lips. "Of course. After all, I don't want you mad at me."

Eyes fought back a shiver as he nodded once, appreciating that smile as best he could. "You make me sound so brutal, Kousuke. I don't really have a temper."

Kousuke chuckled and freed the Brit's hand. "No, but you're too clever for my comfort. Especially when getting back at someone for annoying you. I'll avoid that, if I can." He turned and walked out of the room, but paused just as he would have closed the door behind him and looked back at Eyes. "Besides...making you mad at me would mean that I'd made you unhappy." With that, he closed the door and left to prepare.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Chapter: 2/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Author's Notes: The story continues! Concrit appreciated, no flames. We're entitled to abuse our creative license. Please enjoy!

Kousuke hummed a random tune as he wandered down the street near Sayoko's home. He was making a point of simply being there, not hiding anything at all. He knew the Hunter was out there, even if he hadn't seen him yet. He could feel eyes on him, and a slight prickle between his shoulder blades that rather felt like he was being targeted. Well, that was all to the good. He'd just wander into the nearby park, which he already knew was empty this late in the afternoon, and deal with the problem. Then he'd go home, reassure Eyes, and argue over pizza toppings with Rio.

OOOOO

Ayumu circled the block yet one more time. Things had seemed quiet since the moment he'd gotten to Sayoko's home, but that nagging little feeling in the back of his head made it so that he couldn't leave just yet. He had to check one more time.  
The brunette wasn't usually one to question things unless something gave him good reason. And for the time being, he didn't really have a reason. The fact that there hadn't been any breaking news from Hiyono, and the Blade Children were lying low gave him plenty of reason to sit back and enjoy the lull in the action.

Except for that feeling.

So he'd made sure Madoka's dinner would be waiting for her, warming in the oven, and headed out, going to the first place that came to mind. And it was there that he had stalked for the last hour, trying to figure out what that thought was and why it wouldn't go away even after checking out the grounds. Sighing, he rounded the corner and caught the sound of a familiar tune.

"...kira kira kira...ki..." He groaned at recognizing Hiyono's weird song, but it wasn't coming from the rambunctious girl. He sought to find who _was _humming it.  
Just as he finished turning the corner, he caught sight of the hummer, who was entering the park down the block. There was a flash of bright red hair, and then it was gone amidst the greenery.

Ayumu frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets and pursuing the direction that color went. He was pretty sure he knew exactly who that shock of crimson belonged to, and he wanted to know why Kousuke was snooping around here too.

OOOOO

Kousuke continued to hum for a few minutes longer as he made his way towards the center of the park, where the trees were thickest. While _he_ didn't care about such things, Eyes would be annoyed if Kousuke left the aftermath of a bloody massacre right out in plain sight for people to find. The Hunter had his trail now, abandoning Sayoko's, which was all to the good. While the redhead was a self-proclaimed sick bastard, he didn't see where anyone could get off on hunting down a helpless amnesiac. He absently patted at his various pockets, reaffirming that he had all his knives and his gun at hand. While everything was going to plan, he was sure that the Hunter wouldn't go down without a fight.

Ayumu waited until he was sure they were alone before approaching Kousuke. "You do realize that Hiyono would consider it some kind of personal victory if she knew you were humming that song, right?"

Kousuke gave a yelp and a small start, spinning to stare at his unexpected visitor. It took a few minutes for Ayumu's words to penetrate past the shock as his brain separated itself from the game he was playing with the Hunter, but when it did, he grimaced. "I shall have to cut out my tongue in penance. What the fuck are you doing here, Narumi-ototou?"

"I should ask you the same thing. Technically, we're both trespassing, and without a good reason to be here, we could possibly be arrested. I thought you liked to keep yourself away from the authorities, Asazuki." Ayumu didn't look fazed by the Blade Child, actually inwardly smug that he'd, yet again, caught the other by surprise.

The redhead gave a sardonic snort. "I have it on damn good authority that the _other_ authorities don't even bother patrolling this park, because they got sick of reading rights to squirrels. No one's coming here who doesn't plan to. Speaking of, I have business. Get lost, Narumi-chan."

"You're expecting someone to go after Sayoko-chan, aren't you?" Ayumu asked, his features darkening a little. That must have been what that strange premonition was about. Given that the poor girl barely remembered a thing about her past, the brunette couldn't help but be slightly more protective. The other Blade Children had seemed quite adept at taking care of themselves in one way or another.

Kousuke gave an annoyed huff, one hand resting on his hip while the other adjusted his shades. "It's really none of your business, what I do or think. Look, under any other circumstance, I would be overjoyed to play mind games with you until we both passed out cold. But right now, I've got things to do. And you're distracting me from them. Go home. Eat supper. Go make out with Hiyono." He paused, turned a little green, and shook his head. "On second thought, scratch that last one. _Bad_ mental images."

Even Ayumu had to make a face at such a thought. She was a nice girl, but in that sisterly kind of way that made the thought of kissing her just a bit nauseating. He shrugged. "Well then, if you've got it covered..." He wouldn't waste his time where he wasn't wanted. It went against his nature. "I'll be on my way."

Kousuke nodded, looking satisfied. Behind him, Ayumu could see the dying rays of the sun glint off something metallic, and pointed at the redhead's back...

That didn't look good. His eyes widened, and he moved forward. "Asazuki!" The words to explain why wouldn't come fast enough. He reacted first, reaching to grab the other boy.

Kousuke, startled at Ayumu's sudden approach, flinched back, and that was all that saved his life. There was the sharp crack of a gunshot, and the bullet sailed through the space where the redhead had just been, tearing a sleeve instead of drilling through his chest.

"K'so!" the Blade child hissed, kicking himself for getting so distracted by Ayumu that he had lost track of the Hunter. He pulled out his own gun and moved for the nearest cover. "Narumi, get out of here!"

Something about just leaving Kousuke here with the Hunter conflicted with his gut, and he hesitated, stepping back as the redhead drew his own gun. He had no fighting skills, no weapon except his mind... he felt useless, but still didn't think it was right to leave the other alone. He did follow Kousuke's lead, however, moving to the nearest cover.

The Hunter stepped out of the trees, revealing herself to be a tall blonde woman. She was wearing a business suit so as to have blended in with the general area, but the cruelly amused expression on her face was by no means normal. "Concern for innocents, little freak? I'm surprised. Living weapons don't need such things."

"Ah, stuff it." Kousuke growled. He was not happy. The last thing he had wanted was for anyone to be caught in the middle of this, especially Ayumu. What was it with that guy that he always turned up when it was the most inconvenient? _Eyes is gonna skin me...  
_

"Living weapons?" Ayumu murmured confusedly, pressing his back up against the tree he'd chosen to hide behind, the bark digging in, even through his jacket. His dark eyes sought out Kousuke, trying to pinpoint where he was in relation to this crazy bitch. "You're the only one who's using a weapon that I can see, lady," he called back. The park had a decent amount of greenery, but not enough to cover him if he made a run for it. He knew that he wasn't faster than a bullet.

The Hunter's hard gray eyes flickered over to where Ayumu was hiding, and she smirked. "Hm. Dark hair and gold eyes, about fifteen...well, well, well. If it isn't Kiyotaka's little brother."

Kousuke stiffened. What was a Hunter doing, knowing about the Narumi brothers? So far as he knew, the Hunters only cared about exterminating Blade Children.

A rough sigh of annoyance left the brunette's lips, and his fingers curled against the bark, the scraping against his skin grounding his temper to something more tolerable. He didn't want to do something stupid, and holding his ground was the safest action. "You know, that introduction line is getting old really fast."

Kousuke had to bite down on a snicker and force his mind to return to business. If he could shoot her while Ayumu distracted her...

The woman laughed. "Oh? Well, I suppose you wouldn't have to worry about it much anymore. After all, Kiyotaka's hardly going to return to you. Not after what the Hunters did to stop his nosing about."

Pain shot up Ayumu's arms, and he realized that his nails were digging so hard into the trunk that anymore pressure would make the bark cut into him. His eyes were clenched shut as he forced himself not to rise to the bait. The other Hunter had tried to do that to Eyes, and the musician had stayed alive because he kept a level head. He couldn't lose it to yet someone else who had a steel grip on his heart thanks to Kiyotaka. "I don't even care," he said, his tone like all the other times he'd protested the impact of his brother, cold and seemingly indifferent. "After two years, I stopped waiting."

The woman sniffed, absently firing a shot at Kousuke when he tried to aim at her, smirking at the muffled curse he let out. "You're just as good at the poker face as he was, at least. But it hardly makes any difference. And once he could no longer scream, all the fun was gone. At least my pets benefited from the extra meat."

Kousuke went cold. He was pretty sure she was lying, but that was just because he was more familiar with how both the Knights and the Blade Children worked. Ayumu would have no such knowledge. "Narumi-oto--" There was a loud bang, and the bark sprayed from where one of the Hunter's shots had struck the tree.

"Oh hush. I'll get around to you after I'm done with my conversation. It's fascinating to talk with those that debase themselves enough to care for monsters."

The sound caused Ayumu to flinch, and he cursed himself inwardly for it. Red swam in front of his closed lids before he opened his eyes once more to the dying light. He took a slow, deep breath. There were people out there that were more messed up than the Blade Children... how true was what she was saying? Where was his brother, and how had he gotten in with such screwed up company? "The only monster I'm hearing right now is you. Maybe you should stop calling the kettle black and go home."

The woman chuckled. "Nope. Not until I've dealt some of God's justice. And that means getting rid of hell spawn like your little friend there." She looked thoughtful. "Of course, considering that I don't want witnesses, and the fact that the Blade Children here seem to think you're important..."

"Bitch!" Kousuke snarled, risking the loss of cover long enough to throw one of the daggers hidden in his sleeves. He snarled when she dodged, laughing at his anger.

That roused a cold laugh from Ayumu, the sound almost sarcastic and just a little bitter. He shook his head, chestnut strands falling to curtain dark amber eyes. "You must have me confused with Kiyotaka. The Blade Children have made it quite obvious that I barely compare to my brother. They see fit to remind me of that quite often."

"It's obvious you haven't been paying attention to what they are so careful _not_ to say, then. Tell me, Blade Child, is it hard to put all your hopes on a fool who can only chase his brother's shadow?"

Kousuke's answer was not something that was suitable for polite company.

Ayumu wasn't up for this kind of game. He had no reply at all for the woman, and he might have almost admitted that he felt like it was the tree that kept him standing. He couldn't help feeling angry, flustered, but his mind was racing for control of that. This wasn't the time to let old grudges remain on the surface, not when his and Kousuke's lives were on the line.

"Ah well, no matter. Since I'm sure now from the little hell spawn's reactions that he doesn't want you harmed, I have my edge." She raised a second gun, smaller than the first, and dashed over to the side, at an angle where Ayumu was just within target range. She fired, and something like a small dart flew from the barrel.

"No!" Kousuke yelled.

It was the same split-second awareness that had allowed him to push Kousuke out of the way that moved him now. He pushed away from the tree, feeling something sharp whiz past his neck, catching his skin just slightly. He hissed and dropped to the ground. Whatever had been on that dart burned in the slight cut it made, and that burning sensation was quickly spreading. The Hunter was on Ayumu in a blink, wrapping one arm around his neck in a choke hold, and smiled in satisfaction. "The data I gathered suggested you would show up where my prey was, and that you are especially susceptible to toxins and poisons. Just what I needed."

"Narumi!" Kousuke shouted, but didn't dare fire his gun. The blonde woman was holding the brunette in front of her as a shield, and there was a danger that he'd hit him by accident. His hands were shaking, terror uncurling within himself at the thought that the woman had just poisoned Ayumu, possibly fatally.

"C-coward...!" Ayumu spat, struggling weakly in the woman's arms. He felt like he couldn't control his limbs or his breath, the sound of it rattling in his chest so hard it felt like it reverberated through his head. The burning that had begun in his neck felt like it had already reached the tips of his fingers and toes, his skin hot to the touch. "L-let me...go..." He remembered how frightened he'd been when Rio had fooled him with the fake strychnine in the glass. Now he knew that he had every right to be that scared.

The Hunter raised an eyebrow. "What, and lose a bargaining chip? I don't think so." She turned her cold gray eyes to Kousuke, smirking at the obvious anger and frustration on his face. "Drop the gun and all your weapons, or I kill this boy now. And considering all the attention you little freaks have been giving him when you normally avoid close contact with outsiders, I don't think you want that."

Kousuke glared. "Are you so sure? We've been trying to off him ever since he met us."

The blonde woman chuckled. "That may fool Narumi-chan, but _I_ know you've just been testing him. And you've all put a lot of hope on one slender pair of shoulders. Now unarm or I snap his neck."

Kousuke gritted his teeth, but did as she said. What choice did he have?

"Kousuke, no!" Ayumu shouted with what little strength he had, which made the sound come out like a very forced hiss.

"Good boy," the woman said, but her tone was one a person used with a dog, not a human, and it caused Kousuke to snarl.

"I did what you said. I'm at your fucking mercy. Now let Narumi-ototou go!"

The Hunter just laughed. "And leave you free to do something inventive with that engineered mind of yours? I think not. Of course, since I'd rather you didn't get the idea of doing anything rash anyway..." She aimed and fired, and Kousuke let out a sharp cry as the bullet tore through his left shoulder.

The edges around Ayumu's vision began to blur, his eyes locking with Kousuke's. He was obviously not happy with the situation. For some strange reason, he hadn't wanted the redhead to give in to the woman, even though his life was at stake. If this were really fatal poison, it was possible that he was going to die anyway, whether Asazuki surrendered or not. He growled, his struggles slowing as he lost almost complete control. His knees shook, almost unable to support him now. "Kou...suke..."

The Hunter smirked, and used her free hand to press a button on what had looked like a simple beeper. Within minutes, several helpers had appeared and Kousuke and Ayumu were tossed into the back of a van.

Kousuke immediately crawled over to where Ayumu was lying, needing to make sure that the boy was still alive. He tried to hide the worry, but he wasn't too sure it was working.

Ayumu's fists clenched against the cold metal floor of the van, his face twisting as the movements of the vehicle jostled his already aching frame. A sheen of perspiration glistened on his skin in the dim light that came from the front of the van. In the midst of the pain and the fight to keep breathing as deeply as he could, he was hoping to force his mind into remaining active. His eyes opened slowly, the pupils almost eclipsing the amber color, the surface glassy. He found it insanely hard to focus, but it wasn't difficult to know that the red blur above him was Asazuki. "You're...an idiot..."

Kousuke rolled his eyes. Why was it whenever things got bad, he was always the one who got called that? "I _told_ you to leave. And what would you have me do? Let her kill you?"

Ayumu gave a faint smirk. "I think...it's lethal..."

"Not if the does was small enough. And the dart only scratched you. If need be, there are ways to get around even that." Kousuke was trying not to think too much about it. While he was perfectly willing and capable to do things that would ensure survival, the only possible help he could give required rather more physical contact than he figured either of them were used to.

"I suppose...the best person to ask about things like that...is someone who's trying..." He caught his breath and coughed a little, wincing as the reaction was another round of burning that spread across his chest. After a moment, he took the deepest breath he could to finish. "...to cheat...fate..."

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "I still don't believe that you can save us. But Rio and Eyes can, and they'll skin me if I let you die. And the _last_ thing I want is those two mad at me. So, we make sure you survive. Now, the amount of the toxin in your bloodstream is probably very small, because all the Hunter did was scratch you, and most of that will still be around the wound. So the best tactic to take would be..." The redhead paused, coughed, and suddenly seemed a little pink around the cheekbones. "...um, to suck out some of the poison from the scratch."

_What is this, some damsel in distress movie?!_ was Ayumu's first reaction. He didn't have to say it, probably wouldn't be able to, but the indignant expression that appeared on his face should have said it anyway.

The Blade Child sighed and tried logic. Logic usually worked with Ayumu. "Look, this is the only way to lower the probability of fatal dosage. We _could_ just leave you as-is, but the likelihood of you kicking the proverbial metal water-bearing tool will be higher than if you stopped acting like some blushing high school girl."

That indignant expression deepened, but the creasing of Ayumu's brows at the same time showed that it got the point across better. He certainly didn't want to die, especially not since he had attachments to the living world still, particularly Madoka. That, and one other thing. "Well...I guess since you went and surrendered, someone has to be around to make sure you don't get into even more trouble."

Kousuke casually flipped him off, then carefully levered Ayumu up with his good arm until the brunette's slender form was leaning against the redhead's chest. "Just relax. This is going to sting like a bitch for the first few seconds." the Blade Child said, his breath brushing over the skin of Ayumu's throat.

Against his will, Ayumu let out a small whimper of pain at being moved. By now, the flames that felt like they were eating his body had dulled to a constant thrum of heat and discomfort, his limbs feeling four times as heavy as normal. He thought he might have been a dead weight against Kousuke, but the other moved him so easily. He shivered at the feel of breath against the sensitive skin, and he knew it was a trick of the drug that made it seem cool on fevered flesh. "It can't be much worse than it already is," he pointed out breathily.

"I don't know about that," Kousuke muttered, but didn't bother to explain that odd statement. Instead, he fastened his lips to the shallow cut along Ayumu's neck. He tried to be as gentle as possible, but he also was determined to use as much force as necessary. A little pain now was forgivable if it saved the younger Narumi's life.

The brunette didn't know what he expected it to feel like when Kousuke attached himself to his throat, but he wasn't prepared for the damp pressure or the pain that seemed to shoot straight to that spot. His dark golden eyes squeezed shut, and his slight frame tensed in Kousuke's arms. "V-vampire..." he accused, trying to lighten the situation, distract him from the pain, and some other sensation that he couldn't put a word to.

Kousuke pulled back, spitting the tainted blood to the side. "Bleh! If I was a vampire, I don't think that I'd be worrying about accidentally swallowing. Or caring about how disgustingly this tastes."

Ayumu panted softly, as if he'd been the one doing the work just a moment ago. He couldn't come up with a witty reply; too busy trying to catch his breath before he started coughing again. He didn't note any sudden changes with Kousuke's attempt, but he suspected that he wouldn't be able to notice them anyway. He hadn't noticed that his hand had latched onto a section of the redhead's coat, holding it in a white-knuckled grip.

Kousuke didn't bother to enlighten him. He just kept working for the next few minutes, until he could no longer taste the poison. After that, he used his free sleeve to press against the now freely-bleeding scratch. He already had a huge stain from the gunshot in his shoulder, which he was studiously ignoring to the best of his abilities, so what was one more little bloodstain?

Ayumu felt like he had very little strength left, and it took all he had left just to remain awake. Having Kousuke to lean against tempted him that much more to sleep, but he wouldn't let himself nod off. Not yet. "You...didn't have to..." he breathed, for lack of anything better to say.

"Says you. Do you know what Rio would _do_ to me if she found out that I let you die because we were too squirmy about physical contact? Nuh-uh. I'd rather face the Hunter than an enraged Rio." His tone was light, but it was only to cover the worry. He'd done what he could, but Ayumu was still suffering, his skin feverishly warm and yet far too pale at the same time. And by the time they got to wherever they were going, he himself would have bled out too much to put up much of a fight. That worried him almost as much as Ayumu's health.

"If you...hadn't been snooping around...in the first...place...you'd...face neither..." He hated this. For the first time, he felt truly helpless and a burden.

Kousuke glared at him. "_I_ was there for a reason, Narumi-ototou. I was _supposed_ to be leading the Hunter away from Sayoko and into a nice one-on-one where I could deal with her. _You're_ the one who was snooping around where he shouldn't have been."

Much as Ayumu wanted to deny it, Kousuke had a point. But it was for somewhat the same reason. "I...wanted to...make sure she was safe. Had a bad feeling." He didn't have the usual vibrant look to his stare as he met the glare head-on. It felt like he was losing on all sides today.

Kousuke kept the glaring match going for a few seconds longer before letting out a sigh and slumping his shoulders, wincing as it jarred the bullet wound. "And you almost always follow your hunches. Che'. I should have planned for that." The golden eyes suddenly grew grave. "What worries me is that the Hunter _did_. If all the Hunters and not just she know what you supposedly are to us, you're in for a world of trouble."

"It would be nice if _I_ knew what I was to you," Ayumu said, the remembrance of his own bitter words to the Hunter fresh in his mind. Second best. But she had said something about what he _hadn't _been told. It didn't make sense to him. Little of what he'd experienced with the Blade Children made sense to him anyway, so that was no surprise.

Kousuke sighed. "That's...for Eyes to decide when the telling of happens. For now, worry about our current predicament. I know I am. A Hunter's job is to exterminate Blade Children and any witnesses that know too much, but she's kept us weakened, but alive. Why would she want to do that? It makes me damn nervous."

"She...mentioned something...about pets..." He was going to try very hard not to think about how she'd described those pets in reference to his brother. No matter how much he resented his brother, he had no desire whatsoever to see him dead...and certainly not in such a terrible way as she'd made it seem.

Kousuke sighed and shifted Ayumu slightly so that he lay at a more comfortably angle against him, his head on Kousuke's good shoulder. "While the pets thing does not sound good, I wouldn't worry about Kiyotaka. She was most likely lying. Kiyotaka and the Hunters tended to avoid each other."

"I was...trying to keep from...rising to the...bait..." Ayumu replied. He knew his pride would hate it later, but he tried as best he could to relax in the cradling grip, turning his head just slightly to rest his head against the offered shoulder. "Sorry...for being...in the way..."

The redhead just shook his head. "It's in the past. Can't change it, and I won't dwell on it. There's much more fun things to have grudges over. You should rest. Call it crazy, but I'm getting the feeling that you're going to have to find your own way out, without me."

Ayumu smirked a little. For some reason, being told it was okay to rest made it easier to let himself do so, and his eyes fluttered closed. "I'll get out." Big words...he didn't even know where they were going to be taken, but saying that sounded better than any half-hearted sentiment. "Thank...you..."

"Eh, whatever. Go to sleep." was the nonchalant answer, but the very slight blush on the redhead's face showed that he wasn't indifferent, just unsure how to react in an unfamiliar situation.

The boy didn't need much more encouragement than that. He was out only moments afterwards, his body going slightly heavier against Kousuke's. His lips were parted a little, breathing steady but hitched, a hint that the poison was still working through him.

Kousuke just held him. It was all he could do now, counting each hitched breath and doing his best to soothe whenever it looked like Ayumu's dreams were beginning to turn sour. He'd never been in the position of protector and caretaker before, because all Blade Children needed to be self-sufficient. And while he didn't like that Ayumu was so perilously ill, part of him did like that for once, someone was depending on him for safety, however thin it was. He was worried that Ayumu didn't wake up, but the breathing was still fairly steady. Even when they reached their destination and were roughly transferred into a dark little holding cell, he didn't let go of Ayumu once.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Chapter: 3/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Author's Notes: Thank you to those who commented and encouraged us to continue! We really appreciate it! There will be lots more where this came from.

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

After what seemed like days instead of hours, Ayumu stirred in Kousuke's arms, letting out a groan of discomfort. The brunet's muscles were cramped, tight from the grip of the poison but trying to ease. He could still feel the effects working through him, though nothing was intense as it was before he passed out.

Kousuke watched him wake; privately thinking Ayumu was really cute when sleepy. "Yo. Welcome back to the land of the living."

One amber eye cracked open, and the difference between now and the previous glassy look was more than evident. "Thanks," he muttered. "Where are we?"

Kousuke shrugged with his good shoulder. "Our Hunter's so-called Den of Evil, of course. My guess is they're just keeping us here temporarily so that I bleed out some more and am too weak to fight them off." And even in the gloom, it was easy to tell that the redhead was already far paler than usual.

"You're...an idiot..." Ayumu stated for not the first time. "Why haven't you tried to stop it?"

"Because there wasn't time. I'm not in immediate danger. So far as I could tell, you were, and that took precedence." Kousuke replied, using logic again. Logic really did seem to be the best way to go with Ayumu.

Ayumu sighed, almost hating it when logic was used against him. Both eyes opened and focused on Kousuke's face. "Fine. But now that I'm awake, you need to take care of yourself."

Kousuke nodded. "I guess. Can you sit up on your own, or should I prop you up against the wall?"

"Well...put me down and we'll find out..." Ayumu really wanted to just lie back and rest a little more, but who knew what the Hunter wanted from either of them. They couldn't waste any time.

Kousuke let him go, still watching him closely in case he ended up falling face first on the concrete floor. He was still technically in the role of protector just now, and he found himself taking it very seriously.

Ayumu forced himself to concentrate on moving his body. It was stiff and highly uncooperative, but he wasn't about to give up. He let himself roll off of Kousuke as the other began to get out from underneath him. He caught himself against the concrete floor with his hands, feeling a moment of despair as his arms buckled at the elbow under his weight. But he clenched his teeth and braced himself before he ended up with his face in the pavement.

Kousuke wanted to help him, but figured he should let Ayumu keep at least a little pride. So he let the brunet maneuver himself into a comfortable position while carefully pulling off his jacket and shirt. They were both hopelessly ruined by now, so there wasn't any point in trying to save either of them. He balled them up with his good hand and pressed them tightly to his wound, wincing as he applied pressure. It hurt like a bitch, but he felt he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

In the meantime, Ayumu was bracing himself on his hands and knees, staying there for just a minute with his head bowed a little bit. Then he carefully made the motions to crawl close enough to the wall that he could reach it for balance. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his palms to that and pushed himself into a kneeling position. He couldn't remember ever being so tired in his life.

Kousuke seemed to know what he was thinking, and gave a strained little smirk. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he was really starting to feel the pain. "Look on the bright side. You're still alive, and if you've hung on this long, you're probably going to survive."

"Well, you might be thinking of it optimistically, but I'm not." Ayumu kept his hands on the wall a little longer, not wanting to risk falling over after getting this far. "I highly doubt that the worst is over for either of us. But the most important thing is figuring out how to get out of here, and if we're in any shape to do it."

Kousuke's smirk grew sharper, almost savage. With his skin so pale, his golden cat-slit eyes gleaming in the shadows, and blood smeared over his lithely muscled torso like barbaric war paint, it made for a very primal and mildly unnerving picture. "I won't be getting out of here that easy. I'm a Blade Child, and they'll be watching me like a hawk. _You_, on the other hand, are just another normal boy to them, no matter our interest in you. They won't think to guard you, especially since you're supposed to be either dying or too sick to move."

Ayumu stared at him for a long moment, his expression unreadable. He couldn't decide whether he was unsettled or reassured by Kousuke's outward appearance. He settled for somewhere in the middle and took a deep breath. "True...and I don't really feel all that great, so faking that for them shouldn't be that hard."

Kousuke nodded. "So long as you can find your way out of this place, there's hope. When you get out, go to the playground on the west side. It's where I usually meet up with Eyes or Rio after one of us has been out doing...things. If nothing else, they'll get you medical attention without any inconvenient questions."

Ayumu nodded, and wished he hadn't. He was still a little off balance, and it was a good thing he'd hung onto the wall just a little longer. "...right..."

Kousuke's grin faded into a look of concern."You sure you don't want to sit back down? You should conserve your strength."

More logic, but this time, Ayumu knew his was better. "If I stay down, I'll never get back up again. I have to fight it now while I'm lucid. Letting it get the better of me might mess me up more than what I'm doing now."

Sometimes, the redhead hated it when Ayumu was right. But he still had a point to make. "Okay, but don't complain if you end up falling on your face. Just remember that you don't want to try running if they're coming for me, or the guards will get you. And they need to think you're helpless, anyway."

Sparing his strength as Kousuke was saying sounded like a damn good idea to him, and he remained pressed to the wall. He took a moment to gather his equilibrium before lifting his head and moving it slowly to take a good, thorough look at their surroundings.

There wasn't all that much to see. It was a small square room made of either stone or concrete, with a small air vent in the ceiling and one metal door with a slit that people outside could look through. There were no lights, so the visor was the only source of light. The walls themselves had dark stains on them, and it was probably best not to think too hard about what would leave such stains.

Ayumu didn't give a second thought to them, concentrating more on the ways out. Even he was smart enough to know he couldn't fit through the ventilation shaft, so the only option was the door. "What do you think we could do to get me out of the door...? I'm sure it's locked from the outside."

Kousuke chuckled. "You were dead to the world at the time, so you didn't see it. The lock is faulty. Nothing that would cause it to come undone from brute force, but with a little careful work with something like...oh, _this_..." He dug into a hidden pocket in his pants and pulled out a tiny knife, no longer than the average ballpoint pen and as narrow as a knitting needle.

One brow rose. "How many knives can you carry?" he wondered. He remembered seeing at least two...maybe three when they were out fighting the Hunter. He also noted that Kousuke was either very good at hiding them, or the Hunter had really lousy search skills.

"As many as possible without using various uncomfortable bodily orifices." was the prompt reply. "I knew the Hunter would find everything else, but this little beauty is so tiny, it's not noticeable in baggy pants. And even if she had found it, this thing's too small to make a good weapon. It's a better lock pick and letter opener, unless the user's accuracy is so good that they can assure a hit to the eyes every time."

Ayumu decided not to swell Kousuke's pride, but he inwardly had the thought that the redhead probably was about that good. He nodded, a mildly uncomfortable thought coming to his mind. "Did they search me?"

The Blade Child shook his head. "You were taken charge of by the lackeys. They were all so sure you're just a normal half-dead guy, no matter who your brother is. I wasn't about to enlighten them."

"Thanks for that..." He looked at the door, evaluating the lock mechanisms for a moment before nodding his head. He didn't get dizzy from it that time and it caused him to smirk a bit. He was all business now. "The size and construction of this room tells me that the building is old." His eyes drifted upward. "Unless they put it in the ventilation shaft, monitoring this room electronically would be next to impossible. Given that the Hunter used such simple holding cells is an indication that all the technology is further within this complex. That said, we're clear to do or say what we want in here, as long as no is right outside the door."

Kousuke nodded. He would have said something, but there was the sound of footsteps from the end of the hall. "Ah, hell. Narumi-ototou, come over here and look dead. I was holding onto you when they tossed us in here, and it'll look suspicious if you've moved. Besides, I can slip you the knife that way."

Ayumu grunted his reply and managed to crawl back to Kousuke quicker than he'd gotten away. Bonelessly, he flopped into the other's lap, and the way he managed to pull off the look of near-death was almost scary.

Kousuke was almost tempted to ask if Ayumu had learned the act from somehow eating Rio's attempts at cooking, but refrained. Instead, he slipped the tiny knife into the brunet's back pocket and then waited for the door to open. When it did, a group of heavily armed men and women flooded into the cell. They didn't bother to talk, they just grabbed Kousuke. When he yelped at the jarring of his wounded shoulder, one hit him with the butt of his gun, the loud crack echoing through the room. Then they carried the now unconscious Blade Child away, locking the door behind them.

"That was elegant," Ayumu muttered under his breath as he heard their footsteps retreat. He laid there for several long moments, taking Kousuke's advice and letting himself rest. He still felt so very tired, but he also wanted to make sure that no one had lingered to see if he'd do something scary.

Nothing happened, and no sound came from the halls save for the faint hum of the vents. It seemed that Kousuke had been right about them seriously underestimating what Ayumu could do.

Ayumu muttered something uncomplimentary about that assumption, but he wouldn't complain too much, since their lack of brain cells might give him the edge he needed to get out of the complex alive. Much in the way he'd done before, he kept his movements slow and careful, rolling onto his stomach and pushing upright. He wouldn't walk until he absolutely had to, since that would take the most of his strength. Crawling to the door, he inspected the lock mechanisms closer, pulling the blade from his back pocket.

The lock was old, and rusted half open. All it would really take was a little prying to make it loosen. There was the risk of noise, however. The teenager sighed. There would be a lot of risks here, and if he tried none of them, he'd be not only helpless, but useless, and after Kousuke saving his life, he owed it to the Blade Child to at least make the attempt. Brows furrowing, he concentrated on getting the lock undone as noiselessly as possible.

The lock resisted at first, but then came undone with a screech of abused metal, and the door swung open a crack. But it seemed that it either wasn't as loud as the echoing stone made it seem, or there really wasn't anyone besides himself currently in the halls. No one came.

Ayumu pondered his choices and finally settled on a plan. There were no extra amenities in their little cell, no source of water or sustenance. If he walked, that illusion of him being weak and helpless was gone, broken by the fact that he'd somehow eluded the effects of poison. Besides, there was a chance that he really wasn't able to walk yet anyway, so he decided against being completely upright. Instead, he remained on his hands and knees, scanning the hallway for a good few moments before venturing out at a shaky crawl. _If they discover me...I can tell them that they left the door open when they took Kousuke..._ "So...thirsty..." He tested how raspy he could make his voice, how pathetic he could sound and nodded with satisfaction. Apparently, he had the ability to sound utterly tragic.

Perfect.

Now for the next problem. Ayumu had been unconscious when they'd brought him there, and one hall looked the same as the other. Getting out was going to be interesting, which was putting it kindly, but Ayumu could hardly let that stop him. Especially not when more than just his own safety depended on it. He picked a direction and crawled, very careful to keep notice of cameras or other security devices, all the while looking as if he were searching for water out in the desert. Madoka would be proud he was sure, or maybe even Hiyono. It took what seemed like an eternity, but Ayumu finally left the sterile hallways and found himself in an area that seemed to have been designed as a business center, once upon a time. Now the thing was abandoned, the old furniture falling apart and covered in dust, but there were actual windows to help him get his bearings. And, wonder of wonders, a fire escape.

He didn't allow himself the freedom to grin, not until he was out of this place. He headed for the fire escape. Now was the time to test his balance. Bracing against the wall again, he looked back one more time as if searching for Kousuke as much as the guards. When he saw no one, he assumed the coast clear and began the slow process of getting to his feet. When he was upright and the world was no longer spinning, he reached for the old-shabby door, hoping that the alarm mechanism on the handle was no longer working, and pushed. The door opened with a soft click, and the worse that came of it was the cobwebs that dropped down in force. No alarm sounded, unless one counted the swearing of the spiders, and since spiders don't technically have a language anyway, he would be fine.

"Hey, shut up," he muttered as if he could actually hear them, but mostly spoke to keep from losing his nerve, brushing the webs away from his face and as much out of his hair as he could. From the landing of the staircase, he stared outside. He was only on the second floor, the scent of the ocean strong on the wind. He knew the area somewhat; the fish market that he sometimes visited was close by, no more than a few train stops from home. If he pushed himself, he could make it to the park where Eyes and Rio might be. He was going to need a long nap afterwards, but...

Carefully, he took each step at a slow pace. Not only did he want to keep anything from creaking too loud, but he also didn't want to get dizzy and make a fantastic failure out of tumbling down and knocking himself unconscious. His common sense agreed with that, because if he did fall down the stairs, Kousuke, being the resident self-admitted sick bastard, would probably laugh himself to death if he ever heard about it. Still, he got to the ground level without incident, and the door at the bottom was fortunately unlocked. The reason for this might have had to do with the large amount of crude graffiti on the walls and door, suggesting that the reader do things that were not only crude, but anatomically impossible.

Ayumu stared at it for a moment, giving it the most confused expression he had before pushing it open and taking a step out into the cool night air. Judging from the depth of the darkness, it was just past two in the morning. They hadn't been gone too long, but had it long enough that Eyes and Rio would no longer be waiting? He'd have to decide then which would be the safer route...Madoka's or Hiyono's. Deciding to cross that bridge when he got there, he started on his way.

The west side wasn't too far, but it was exhausting to someone with Ayumu's problems. The playground itself was lit with streetlamps bright enough to cast dramatic shadows over everything, confusing the eyes. Still, it didn't hide the small form pacing in front of the monkey bars, muttering about how she was going to scalp a certain latecomer. That her quiet companion didn't reply didn't seem to faze her or slow the rant. By the time he reached the park, the figures standing at the bars were almost blurred, and the first thing that came to hand that would hold him up, Ayumu grasped and leaned against to catch his breath. He hoped that the ones waiting over there were Eyes and Rio, or he was in deep trouble.

Rio had not been having a good evening. Eyes had come to her hospital room with the news that Kousuke had gone out to deal with a hunter alone, and it had not gone over well with her. Add to that the fact that Eyes had acted even more remote and untouchable than usual, and it made her want to scream. She really didn't know how either of them could think they were fooling anybody. And then when Kousuke had _not_ come back by sundown, she had felt that there was no choice but to get out of the hospital again--which ticked off the nurses and assured that they were going to skimp on her desserts at mealtimes--and go wait at the playground where they usually met up as a fallback. And he hadn't shown up there, either! It was almost three AM, dammit! She was _so_ going to rip him a new one when he finally got here and--

Then she noticed Ayumu, hanging to both the monkey bars and his consciousness with what was obviously his last bit of strength. There was blood on his neck and shirt. "Little Narumi!"

Eyes had been staring out at the stars as if all the answers were there...until he heard Rio call out. Only instead of Kousuke, she seemed to have found Ayumu instead. He pushed away from the jungle gym and saw what Rio was looking at. His eyes widened a little, and he hurried over to the brunet, slipping an arm around his waist.

"Rio...did you bring a kit?"

Rio nodded and slid her backpack off her shoulders. "I'd have been stupid not to. When Kousuke-baka's late, it usually means injuries." Her agate-gray eyes turned to Ayumu, cautious concern within. "What happened to you?"

Ayumu sighed and leaned more against Eyes than he wanted to. It seemed wrong to rely on him, as if after the night he'd put in, he'd sully the pale musician. He also felt like he'd been a burden enough already. "It's a long story, and it involves Kousuke, poison, and guns," he muttered. He was about done with walking, he'd be lucky if he made it much further on his own.

"And you're still alive...? Eyes, I think we should get somewhere a little more secure. I wanna hear the rest of this story, but Little Narumi needs rest." She sighed and shook her head. "Leave it to Kousuke to mess up in a way that involved Narumi. Honestly..."

"Let's go back to the tower," Eyes murmured, glancing around just in case Ayumu was being followed. Then, without any warning, he scooped Ayumu up into his arms as if he weighed nothing. The brunet yelped and almost squirmed right out of the other man's arms, but Eyes held him steady.

"Don't squirm, Little Narumi. I doubt you'd enjoy getting dropped on the pavement. And we're not about to let you walk all the way to our safe place." Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. Obvious, all three of them. They all seemed to try so hard to keep each other in a state of denial, and yet the only ones they fooled were each other. If it hadn't been so utterly pathetic, it might have been funny. _I have _got_ to get those three to confess somehow. Gods, I wish I had a fellow conspirator!  
_

Eyes walked quickly, bearing Narumi's weight and carrying him down the back alleys and quiet streets that had gotten them there unnoticed to begin with. It didn't take long to reach the building he was using as his safe house. He hurried them inside, taking the elevator up and staring out at the sleeping city below.

Rio, however, was already digging the first aid kit out of her backpack, all business. The scratch on Ayumu's neck needed cleaning before it got infected and she wanted everything ready once they got him somewhere he could sit or lie down.

Eyes lay Ayumu down on the couch near his piano once they got inside, frowning at the sight of blood on the brunet's coat.

"Are you...injured elsewhere?"

"No..." Ayumu said sleepily. "It's..." He didn't want to say it was Asazuki's. For some reason, it felt wrong, as if he'd failed somehow.

"Kousuke." Eyes's face tightened.

Rio grit her teeth to suppress the surge of worry for the boy she thought of as her older brother. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked instead, pulling out the cotton swabs and the hydrogen peroxide from her kit. Then she sat down next to him and tugged on the jacket. "Off."

"Easy for you to say..."

Before he could add anything to that, Eyes was already helping him up, gently tugging the coat off, knowing the other boy would have problems doing so himself. He seemed to stare a little longer than he meant at the stain on Ayumu's jacket, but he shrugged a little and turned to put it over a chair.

"I had a feeling...something about Sayoko," Ayumu explained, settling back into the couch cushions and sighing. His eyes closed, but he knew he was still a little too wired to pass out like he had before. "So I went to scout her place. Asazuki and I ran into each other there, and that's when the Hunter found us."

Rio nodded, dampening the cotton with the peroxide and beginning to clean the scratch on Ayumu's throat. She had caught the way Eyes looked at the stains on the jacket, but said nothing. Putting the silver-haired boy on the spot wouldn't help anything. "Eyes told me that Kousuke was purposely leading the Hunter away from her, using himself as bait. He was going to lead him into a nearby park and kill him."

Ayumu could easily blame the way his face scrunched on the sting of the peroxide. "I...screwed that up. I..."

"Don't say it," Eyes cut him off, crossing his arms and staring outside again.

"Just give us the facts, Little Narumi. You can have all the guilt trips you want later, when the situation isn't so serious." Rio noted that the area around the scratch was slightly bruised, as if a lot of pressure had been put on the skin. It made her wonder, but she wanted to hear the story from Ayumu before making her own judgments.

"The Hunter...she was good," Ayumu continued after taking a deep breath. It still rattled in his chest, but it was much better than before. "Not only did she have a gun, but she also had one for poisoned darts...and knew how to use them both. I was unexpected, but that seemed to work out more in her favor than Asazuki's. She knew of...my brother...but Asazuki said that most of what she spouted was lies. After she shot me with the dart gun and him with the real gun, she took us away. It was only a shoulder wound though...not fatal."

Rio paused, blinking. She glanced over at Eyes, now more worried than before. The Hunter hadn't shot to kill? Had taken them alive? Why?

The only indication of Eyes's additional concern was the crease to his usually smooth brow. He nodded to Rio to have her continue to treat Ayumu's wounds, letting his own mind ponder the same thing the girl was. No Hunter had ever taken a living target...they were always gunned down to the death. The only exception had been the story Kousuke told him about the hotel, and that had been rigged as a death trap, a means of killing all, not just one. Was that what this Hunter would try to do too? The concept was highly unsettling. Or could it be something different? Were the Hunters in league with the Saviors now? Had the Knights turned upside down since he left them and Kanone behind?

Rio went back to tending the small wound, forcing her mind on another track before she began to fret. Worrying herself into a panic wasn't going to help things, either. "How did you survive the poison? Even with so small a dose as you got, you should be in much worse shape."

"You're right, I should be. Except that Asazuki thought it was a good idea to play vampire." Ayumu knew they were smart enough to figure out what he meant, and that was confirmed when Eyes nodded once. He let out another soft breath. "He saved me. I came to find you so I could return the favor."

Rio nodded, finally putting down the cotton swabs and picking up the gauze. "Will you be able to lead us to where the Hunter's hiding? And how was the security?" From the slight scorn in Rio's voice, it was obvious she didn't have high expectations of a place that a prisoner weakened by poison could just sneak out of.

"I can take you there," he answered, tilting his head to the side as she bandaged the wound. Quietly, he explained what he and Kousuke had observed about the place, and then went on to describe the lackeys and how he'd escaped.

Rio was not impressed. "They thought you weren't a threat. They _knew_ you were the younger brother of Narumi Kiyotaka, and that you had the attention of their targets, and they thought you weren't a threat. Eyes, are Hunters born stupid, or do they acquire it when they sign up?"

"That is a mystery, Rio," Eyes responded quietly. "But if they really believe he's no threat, then they've been paying attention to all the wrong things. The only problem is that after tonight, they won't take him so lightly."

Ayumu bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something about going all the way in screwing up tonight. He didn't think either of them would appreciate it.

Rio finished her work and sighed, lowering her hands to her lap, where they clenched into fists. She wanted, more than anything, to rush over there and rescue Kousuke. However, Ayumu wouldn't be able to handle another trip across the city, let alone the danger of extricating their missing comrade. And without Ayumu, they'd be one person less in an already dangerously outnumbered situation.

"You've done well, Rio. Now let's leave Little Narumi to his rest. He's done well also and he's going to need his strength." He put his hand on the girl's shoulder, squeezing it just slightly. His blue eyes fixed on Ayumu a moment, drawing that amber gaze to meet it. A moment of silence passed between them, as if they both realized that they would have to work together once more, and they could agree.

_Doomed. Totally and completely doomed. And when Kousuke gets back, I'm going to start hiding video cameras in the shower._ "Should we put him in Kousuke's room for now? He should be in a real bed."

"You don't have to..." Ayumu began to protest.

"Yes."

Rio nodded, her dove-gray pigtails bouncing around her face. "Okay, then. Eyes, if you'd kindly lift him again, we'll get him settled. The faster he recovers, the sooner we can dig Kousuke out of this mess."

Ayumu gave up protesting by the time he was back in the musician's arms. He was too tired to fight now, having spent what was left of his energy getting out. "Soon...I won't take long."

"I hope you're right." Rio muttered, walking down the hall to a door with a bright red biohazard sign on it. She opened it up to reveal a room that was surprisingly neat, considering the laid-back attitude that Kousuke normally presented to the world. Sure, there was clutter, since the redhead was also something of a packrat, but it was all stuffed on shelves, leaving nothing on the floor to possibly trip a person up. There was only one shelf that was neat, and that held a lot of different knives and daggers. Six spots, including one that obviously would have held the tiny penknife, lay empty. The windows were large, but locked securely, so that while he had the option of a quick escape, no one could get in through them. The walls were pretty much bare, save for a random poster or two. The bed was small, but looked comfortable, for all that the blankets were a horrible shade of orange. Rio remembered Kousuke explaining that he'd chosen them because he'd never have to worry about anyone stealing such ugly things.

Ayumu spared a moment to glance around as Eyes carried him inside. For all that it seemed slightly chaotic, the feel to it was just right for Kousuke, and it made Ayumu think that no matter what, the Blade Child would be all right. He wasn't used to thinking so positively, but he found it nearly impossible to think otherwise.

Eyes fussed rather silently over him, laying him on the bed and covering him in those loud, orange blankets. Wordlessly, he ensured Ayumu was comfortably tucked before turning and leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.

It was an effort for Rio to not tease Eyes a little about the concern he gave Ayumu. But while doing that to Kousuke got nothing more than blushes and sputtering, it would embarrass and offend Eyes, so she kept quiet. Still, the whole scene had been amazingly cute, and made her more determined than ever to get the three most important people in her life safely together. Even if it _was_ an almost impossible task. _Cohorts...I need cohorts!  
_

Eyes pushed his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and wandered back to the main room with Rio in tow. "We're lucky... Little Narumi almost slipped from our grasp tonight."

The younger Blade Child sobered, shoving her dastardly plans for matchmaking to the back of her mind. "Hai. If not for Kousuke's quick thinking, he'd probably be dead."

"He siphoned the poison out. That's why the skin is bruised, correct?"

Rio nodded, absently reaching up to take her hair down. It was very late/early, and if she kept the tails in any longer, she'd end up with a headache. "He probably took a risk with that. One unknown cut or accidental swallow and they'd both have been in serious trouble."

"Kousuke never was one to turn away from a risk," Eyes pointed out. "And I'm sure if he hadn't, Little Narumi wouldn't have lasted but an hour or two. As it is, we should give him a day to flush the poison."

"Or more, depending. And then after that, there'll be the time it takes to stake out the place Little Narumi takes us to. Once they realize he's gone, I'm betting they'll seal off most exits. Finding a way in without blowing down a wall might take another couple days." She scowled. "During which, who knows what the Hunters are doing to Kousuke? The fact that he wasn't killed right off bothers me."

"You too? It's very unlike a Hunter..." Eyes mused on that for a moment, sitting down at his piano as he often did when he was trying to puzzle something out, his hands neatly folded in his lap for the moment.

Rio sat down on the couch, pulling a brush out of her backpack. "This Hunter also knew enough about Little Narumi to try and bait him. She certainly knew about his weaknesses to toxins. And that's also not like a Hunter. Normally, they're single-minded, just learning about their targets, and then only enough to get rid of them. Normal people _aren't _supposed to be targets."

Eyes watched Rio for a moment, and then raised a hand to motion her over to sit with him. "That's what we've learned to expect. I would think that not every Hunter is so base, but it still makes me wonder what purpose Kousuke could serve alive when the main point is to exterminate us all."

Rio came and sat, brushing her soft gray hair back with one hand. "If it's information, they're in for a major disappointment. Kousuke's able to keep his silence, even through torture. I know, because it happened once, before we met you."

"I believe in his ability to withstand it." One day, he would find out what Rio and Kousuke had done before they'd joined up. Defying the Blade Children that believed what Kanone did was difficult, for they outnumbered those that wished to fight fate by a very high degree. "I'm also inclined to believe that we'll get him back, even with the difficulties involved." Eyes took the brush from Rio's hand and began brushing the soft hair, gently to keep from tugging on any snarls.

"I don't doubt that. I just worry about what shape he'll be in when we do. I'm still technically an invalid. Having two of us out of action isn't a nice concept." She leaned back into the gentle strokes of the brush, beginning to relax in spite of herself. She was glad that Eyes was beginning to show this more gentle side to his nature more often.

Eyes felt a moment of guilt, which made him soften the strokes of the brush. His voice was almost inaudible. "I'm sorry."

Rio shook her head a little, but was careful not to dislodge the brush. "It's not your fault. I did what I did to try and shake Little Narumi off my trail. And Kousuke did what he did to keep both Sayoko and Little Narumi alive. We'd probably do it again, faced with the same circumstances."

"And what have I done?" Of all of them, Rio was the only one that got to hear the questions that hinted at Eyes's doubt. "Nothing but hide."

Rio gave a soft smile. This was her Eyes-oniichan. "Lots of things. You gave us hope that our fate might be changed. You gave us a safe place to stay when we tried to fight against that fate. You are one of the few people we can trust, even after a life that dictates that we trust no one, not even ourselves. And as the unofficial leader, you draw a great deal of the fire, just by being so visible through the media. You've put yourself in danger for us before, and I know you will again, no matter how much Kousuke bitches about it. Really, you're probably the most important one of us, even if you're rarely in the thick of the fighting. You're our stability."

Eyes let out a quiet sigh that ruffled the soft hair at the back of her neck. "I want to say that I have faith in what you're saying. I feel more like I've brought about bad things in your lives, compelled you to do things that you never would have done." He had no illusions about how ruthless his little group was, and while it was somewhat unsettling from Kousuke, it was worse from Rio, and he felt responsible for that.

Rio raised an eyebrow. "Eyes, I took my first life before I ever met you. I would have died otherwise. As for Kousuke, I don't really know the story behind his first kill, but I know he had his reasons. We do what we have to so that we can survive. Your being there or not wouldn't change it, except perhaps for the worse. If you weren't here, who would we have run to, when we needed someone to help us fight fate? Kiyotaka did some of that, but he's not a Blade Child. We never would have trusted him without your vouching."

"I don't think that any of us would have gotten this far without each other. Whether or not Little Narumi changes our fate is nothing compared to what we've already accomplished. If it turns out to be a myth that Kiyotaka's younger brother can save us, we'll die knowing we didn't give in. And that's the most important thing, right?"

Rio nodded, but turned her head a little to give Eyes a wry little smile. "But you would prefer that we all got out of this alive, ne?" She sighed and looked ahead again, but couldn't resist adding in the next comment, her matchmaking instincts popping up. "You care so much, about all of us. You act like nothing affects you, but in your own way, you worry the most. I wonder...does Kousuke see how much you truly care?"

Eyes's hands stilled for just a brief moment on Rio's hair, and he looked down at that little smile. His topaz-blue gaze stared at her, blinking a few times. "I don't know what you're talking about. Of course I care for something, or I wouldn't be such a haven of hope as you say I am."

Rio smiled, but sighed inwardly. "Of course. What I meant was that I wondered if Kousuke was as dense as I thought."

"Anyone who knows Kousuke knows that he's only dense when he wants to look that way." He thought back to the kiss they'd shared before the redhead had gone off to lure the Hunter. "He knows what he needs to."

Rio kicked herself for not wiring the piano room earlier. That would have been prime eye candy. "That's true. Now all we can hope to do is get him home before the Hunter does something to make him doubt or forget." Her expression went grave. She'd seen it happen before, during the same incident she'd mentioned earlier, where a Savior had tried to torture information out of Kousuke. The redhead _had_ remained silent, but he'd been emotionally unstable enough that Rio hadn't dared to even tease him lightly for weeks.

"I won't let that happen." There was an edge to Eyes's voice, one that was rarely ever heard in his steady tone.

Rio turned and met those cobalt eyes with her own agate ones. "_We_ won't let that happen." she corrected. "He's my niisan, even if only by means of affection and one madman's experiment."

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to exclude you..." Eyes hadn't realized just how defensive he'd become.

Rio just smiled brightly and honked his nose. "Eh, make it up to me with a melon, sometime."

"Very soon, I promise," Eyes said, lowering the brush. He'd gotten all the tangles out of her long hair and combed it smooth. "There you go."

Rio nodded and slid off the bench. "Arigatou, Eyes-kun. I'm going to go get some sleep, and you probably should as well. Worrying about things now won't do anything but make sure that we're totally flat when it's time to go rescuing."

Eyes nodded in agreement. But after waiting until Rio had gone to her own room, he snuck into Kousuke's to curl up in the chair at Ayumu's bedside.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 4/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Author's Notes: This is where things start to get interesting. Hunters, guns, and demons, oh my!

Rio yawned and tumbled reluctantly out of bed. The sun shining in her eyes had awakened her, and considering that her window faced the west, there was a good chance she had seriously overslept. Admittedly, she and the others had stayed up past three last night, but Rio usually preferred to be up with the dawn if she could manage.

Feeling the total apathy towards appearances that most do after a late night, Rio didn't bother to change out of her lilac pajamas or brush her dove gray hair. It's not like she'd be going anywhere for the moment, after all. Right now, all she wanted was the bathroom, her morning/afternoon cup of cocoa, and breakfast. She sighed regretfully. It was a pity that Narumi Ayumu was going to be confined to bed until both she and Eyes dubbed him well enough to move around, because otherwise Rio would have asked him to cook.

Speaking of Ayumu, Rio decided it was probably best to go check on him. She didn't expect any danger, but she hadn't lived this long without a healthy dose of paranoia. So she padded down the hall in bare feet to the red biohazard that marked Kosuke's room, and quietly opened the door.

The sight that met her eyes was unexpected, and she had to stifle a little yaoi fangirl squeal.

Ayumu was curled up in the bed, Kosuke's horrible orange blankets making a shapeless cocoon around him, leaving only his peaceful face uncovered, his hair mussed and obscuring eyes closed tight like a child's. And next to the bed, in the battered chair that Kosuke usually used for target practice, was Eyes, curled into the seat and dead to the world, his own expression having melted from the empty mask to something a little more real, but no less serene. His hair splayed over his shoulders and face like a snowfield, and he looked remarkably comfortable for someone who was crammed into one small chair. Rio didn't know if the silver-haired boy had originally meant to sleep there or not, but it was an adorable picture.

Rio wondered if Eyes had come in here to watch over Ayumu, or if he had merely wanted to be where the reminders of Kosuke were strongest. She smiled softly, looking around the cluttered but oddly neat room. It had probably been a little of both. Rio knew perfectly well of Kosuke's and Eyes's fascination for the younger Narumi brother, so she shouldn't have been surprised that Eyes would watch over him while he was ill. And the room itself…well, Rio didn't believe in God, but she did believe in objects and even areas taking on the feel of their owners after a while. And this whole room resounded with the warm sensation of Kosuke's gentler and more protective moods. It felt like even though the redhead himself wasn't here to guard his heart's treasures, a part of his spirit had been left behind to do the job.

Rio looked at the two sleeping boys for another moment, then slid out as silently as she had come, thinking to let them sleep as long as they could. And she knew that if she watched too long, she'd get a little sad. To her, the picture was incomplete. Her stability and her hope slept safely in that room, yes, but it just wouldn't feel right until her laughter was brought home to rest between them.

Kousuke drifted, stuck somewhere between the void of sleep and the light of consciousness. He was awake enough to know he was in danger, that Ayumu was also in danger, and that he was wounded. But he was still out of it enough not to really feel the urgency of any of those things.

He couldn't open his eyes, and he couldn't move his limbs. He had probably been restrained. He could hear voices, but only make out fragments of what was being said. None of the voices he heard sounded anything like Ayumu. The Blade Child was unsure as to whether he should be worried about that. The last thing he remembered was being in a tiny little cell with no windows and only one door, holding the brunette as he suffered from the lingering effects of having been poisoned. Then the door had opened and he'd been dragged away. Kousuke could only hope that Ayumu would be able to survive.

For now, however, he needed to see to his own survival. He could only assume that the voices around him were from Hunters, like the one that had caught him. If that was the case, it was a small miracle that he hadn't been killed already. Why was he still alive? He tried to listen to the voices around him for answers, but everything was fuzzy and coming in fragments.

"…chemical supplements have been designed to enhance…"

"…still not enough…"

"…used to take down the mental walls of…"

"…more tests…"

_Okay,_ thought Kousuke, beginning to feel irritable, _the Blade Child is now officially clueless. Say something to enlighten the unenlightened here, people!_

"…possible signs of animal genome within…"

"…force out the latent…"

"…make use of subliminal encoding to…"

_Right. The unenlightened shall remain stupid. Great._ Kousuke sighed silently to himself and tried to push himself towards full wakefulness. It turned out to not be a good idea, finding himself violently aware of the gunshot wound in his left shoulder, which had only been given rudimentary treatment to prevent infection and stop the bleeding. It throbbed and felt like someone had shoved a hot poker in it. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a pained hiss.

The voices stopped. There was a silence so deep that Kousuke began to wonder if he'd been dreaming them up, but then rough hands tore away the strip of duct tape that had been holding his eyes shut. Kousuke let out a yelp as it felt like he'd just had his eyebrows torn off. He snapped his eyes open, and immediately regretted it as the bright lights of the room blinded his vision.

The rough hands grabbed his jaw and tilted his face upwards, and as the spots cleared from Kousuke's vision, he was left facing the Hunter that had caught him and Ayumu before. She was dressed in a white lab coat now, and smiling in a way that made Kousuke want to find one of his daggers and cut it off.

"Well," she murmured, "the freak awakes. Just in time for the work to begin. You'll make a better lab rat than the ones before, I hope?"

Kousuke's golden eyes narrowed at the insults, but he kept his mouth shut. _Ones before? Lab rat? What has she been doing to the Blade Children she hunts?!_

The Hunter waited, but when no answer came to her question, she merely shrugged, her smile taking on an odd cast that sent a fissure of pure fear down Kousuke's spine. "Never mind. I'll get plenty of screams out of you yet, my little puppet."

_PUPPET?! Where do you get off calling me your fucking—OW! _Kousuke didn't get the chance to voice his anger, the sting of the syringe followed almost instantly by nothingness. He only had the last words of the Hunter to guide him into the blackness.

"We'll work on unlocking this creature's latent genealogy, first. After the first round of treatments, toss him in a different cell from the other boy. We don't want them in contact with each other now…"

Kousuke didn't know how long he had been there. They'd knocked him out or forced him out of drugged stupor too many times for him to have an accurate idea of day or night anymore. All he really knew at any one point anymore was pain.

The experiments that the Hunter and her assistants had done on him so far made little rational sense, just exposing him to some odd sort of multicolored light for what seemed like hours at a time. But there must have been _something_ more to that light, because after every session, Kousuke felt ill and pained, like something was burning under his skin, straining to get out. At first, it eventually faded, but it had taken longer and longer to do so with every session, and the burning feeling had gotten exponentially worse.

In another room, they'd started doing a second set of experiments. Instead of light, they stuck needles in him and pumped him full of some sort of drug. He didn't know exactly what it was supposed to do, but his head always felt like it was going to split in two when it was in his system. And he had odd waking dreams with no images, but countless feelings. He sensed insane fear, icy hatred, insatiable greed, sickening hunger, acid joy, and dark obsession. They were so overwhelming in his dreams, to the point where he had lost himself more than once, unable to discern his own mind and heart under the pressure of those painful emotions that ate away at his mind like wild beasts. It terrified him, and he'd tried more than once to escape into his own mind, but he couldn't even find the path into his own mentality in that drugged state.

The oddest part was when the drugs began to wear off, however. When that happened, the waking dreams with their overpowering emotions but no sight would overlap the real world. When that happened, it almost seemed like all of the terrible painful things came from the Hunter and her assistants, instead of being fragments of delusions in his own mind. In the latest drug sessions, he'd started being able to keep a slight hold on the outside world, and could almost identify which emotion was who. What confused him was that he could still feel flickers of other emotions, even after the drugs had worn off, and that weren't in the room with him, gray despair and aching loneliness. Were there others in this prison? And none of them had an 'Ayumu' feel to them. That scared him. But there was nothing he could do.

He was kept too weak to fight the people that dragged him from one room to another, food being nothing more than vitamin supplements given to him intravenously. He also could not remember the last time he had gotten true sleep here. When he wasn't being tortured or given an hour in an empty cell to suffer alone, he was restrained and fitted with some sort of odd headset. The moment it was turned on, he immediately was forced into something that wasn't quite sleep, but definitely wasn't awake. He supposed it was best described as a total shutdown of his mind. He wasn't aware of anything, yet he was still awake in some odd way. But beyond that, he had no idea what they were doing to him. Every time he 'woke', all he had was the odd feeling that something bad had happened, like a terrible nightmare that could never be remembered after the dreamer awoke. And his throat was always sore, as if he'd been screaming.

Kousuke shuddered, curling up in the corner of the tiny cell, every fiber of his body aching and burning. His hour of so-called rest was almost up, but he just felt worse than he had when they tossed him in here. It was easier to ignore the pain when there was so much that it overloaded the senses. Here, where the only stimuli were from hurts already given, it was much harder to block out. Especially now, when the burning under his skin felt like someone had tucked a miniature sun inside him.

He tried to distract himself, first with trivial things, like wondering what the Hunter had done with his clothes or if all of this would leave lasting scars. But those thoughts slipped into more weighty matters, wondering if Ayumu were still alive or if Eyes and Rio were looking for him.

Kousuke didn't personally believe that the fate of the Blade Children could be changed by anything but death, but he couldn't bear the thought of being the one responsible for taking away Rio's and Eyes's one ray of hope. If Ayumu was dead, there would be nothing for his little adoptive family to strive for. And he and Eyes would never be able to find out just how deep that strange need in their hearts for the younger Narumi brother went.

And no matter how much the redhead suffered here, he sincerely hoped that Eyes and Rio wouldn't find him. He didn't want them coming here, to this place where Blade Children were just lab animals. Especially not Eyes. He knew that Eyes was the one that the Hunters _really_ wanted. He was the putative leader of the Blade Children, after all, and all the others, even the ones under Kanone's faction, looked up to him. And Kousuke couldn't bear the thought of the silver-haired boy being put through the same tortures he was.

Despite the fact that he'd never believed in gods, Kousuke found himself praying to any deity that might listen that Ayumu was okay and that Eyes was _not_ looking for him. And the more he prayed, the more the image of a great fiery cat solidified in his mind. He didn't understand it, but somehow, he got comfort from that image, and so he concentrated on it with all his will, praying for the safety of the people important to him. The image in his mind's eye seemed to be moving towards him, getting nearer and larger with each second, until he could visualize every individual hair of its pelt. His overtaxed mind absently noted that the fur was the same vivid red as his own hair, and the bright yellow eyes staring at him were his own. _Weird…_

And then the pain hit.

Kousuke screamed as the burning under his skin roared into true flames, the crimson tongues bursting from his body and filling the room. He felt like his entire being was melting, his bones becoming like molten metal that was being stretched and twisted into some new shape. He screamed again, but it came out as an animalistic roar that matched the firestorm about him. He wanted to weep from the pain, but something was wrong with his eyes and he could no longer produce tears. He wanted to run, but he couldn't get up from all fours. He wanted to call out for someone, _anyone_, to give him aid, but all that came from his throat was more roaring. Fear ate at Kousuke's heart, and he wondered if he was dying.

However, the pain gradually began to fade away, the fires around him dying out. Kousuke was eventually able to think enough to take stock of himself. He was shocked at what he found. In the place of a slender human boy was now the body of a young red leopard, the black spots patterning his crimson fur. His hearing and his sense of smell had both sharpened, catching the echoing of his anxious gasps and the scent of scorched concrete.

What's more, the strange sense of emotions that the drugs had always caused in him was also there, in his mind. It wasn't as intense as when under the influence of the Hunter's drugs, but instead was just the same as the hearing or smell, another sense to add to the rest. It was like there was an instinctive barrier around his mind, keeping the sharper edges of it out. And deep in his mind, he could feel the flames that had raged through his body. They didn't hurt now, but instead just rested in that corner of his mind, waiting to be called on again.

_What the fuck just happened?!_ Kousuke tried to yell, but it only came out as an odd cross between a snarl and a yowl. He couldn't even talk in this form! It took all of the redhead's will not to panic at that moment. _Okay, deep breath. Don't freak out, not yet. Let's try to fix this mess first. Relax, suppress your usual urge to freeze at surprises, and think. How did I get into this? I was thinking about the image of a red cat made of fire, and I changed. Maybe if I concentrate on being myself again, it'll go away._

Kousuke shut his golden eyes, trying not to think about the tail that was twitching with anxiety behind him or the claws that dug into the stone floor. He just visualized his own face and tried to concentrate on changing back.

The transformation was no easier this time than it had been before. It still hurt, like he was forcing his body to do something it wasn't ready for. But he refused to stop until something in him, some instinct he barely understood, told him that it was safe to do so. Even so, it wasn't a fully human form he opened his eyes to. His body was once again outwardly human, but as Kousuke looked at his arms, he saw the leopard's spotty pattern over his own pale skin. His hands were now clawed, and a quick swipe of a nervous tongue proved that he'd kept the fangs. A strange twitching feeling at the top of his head turned out to be a pair of furry cat's ears, and a long elegant crimson tail still twitched restlessly behind him.

He was reminded strongly of the storybooks that he vaguely remembered his mother reading him when he was young. There had been certain beings in some of those stories, part cat and part man. "Nekojin…ka?" he whispered to himself.

"Correct. But then, you freaks were always quite the intelligent ones. So you're a red leopard, ne? I've never heard of that species having that color in nature, but then, you and your kind are an unnatural bunch."

Kousuke hissed, hackles he didn't know he had rising at the sound of that hated voice. He looked around, but the cell door was still closed and no one shared this place with him. Most likely, there were hidden cameras and speakers in the walls. Probably fireproof, if they had survived the inferno the first transformation had triggered. "The only freak I know is you, lady. What the fuck did you do to me?!"

There was a mocking laugh, and Kousuke shivered. He hated that laugh. It always promised pain. "I just forced a few of your own disgusting traits into fruition. Normally, they probably would have developed on their own when you reached about eighteen, but by then that damned Yaiba would have you monsters destroying all of humanity."

"We're _not_ monsters!"

The Hunter's voice became angry. "Oh? What would you call a child that lights fires with only his mind and is half cat? You and all of your kind are monsters! I've studied several Blade Children, and never once have I come across one whose natural mother was human. You're all demons, born from a devil and his demon wives!"

Kousuke grit his teeth, mentally groaning as he realized this particular Hunter was yet another twit using the stupid Christian terms for the whole mess. He ached, and he was tired, and he desperately wanted to curl up somewhere and hide. "Whatever. Why the fuck did you do this to me, if I'm just some monster to kill?"

"Because you're more useful to me like this. From the data I've collected, I know that it's not possible to get near Eyes Rutherford. So I'll use you, his trusted friend. It's a perfect irony, using one of Yaiba's own creations to kill another."

Kousuke's eyes widened, and then he snarled loudly, baring his fangs in a catly show of defiance. "Like hell! I'll never help you! You'll never get Eyes!"

There was a moment of silence, and then the sound of quiet chuckling. Kousuke started to get even more scared. "Oh, really? Activate password: Judas. Asazuki, get on your knees and bow."

And suddenly, Kousuke's body wasn't his own. While he'd had every intention of telling the crazy woman off, he found himself unable to speak, his body moving to her command. The soul that was Kousuke was pushed somewhere to the back, replaced by the false personality that had been programmed into his mind during the times he'd been forced into semi-sleep.

Not-Kousuke finished the bow and got to his feet, smiling ever so slightly. "What are your orders, mistress?"

_No! You can't do this!_

The Hunter's voice laughed from wherever she was. "Such an obedient little puppet. I'll have to remember to keep you around, if you do well."

_I'm not your pet! Dammit, let me go!!!_ But no matter what Kousuke tried, he couldn't get his body and mind back. While he could watch what was happening, he couldn't influence it. He was well and truly trapped, with a construct made by a Hunter in full control of not only his body, but also new and potentially lethal abilities.

"There has been a small group of what pass as children that have been sniffing around the edges of this compound. One of them is your target. I want you to terminate Eyes Rutherford. Kill anyone who gets in your way."

Not-Kousuke bowed his assent, and the cell door opened to reveal a few of the assistants, carrying his clothes and weapons.

Inside, the spark that was Kousuke screamed his anguish. _No! Eyes! Rio! You can't do this, you can't make me kill my family!_ But the body was unresponsive to his commands, and all that the Blade Child could do, deep inside a mind no longer his own, was curl in on himself and cry. 

Rio sighed. It had been almost a week since Kousuke and Ayumu had first gotten caught, and they still hadn't found a way inside. The doors had been fused shut, the windows rigged with explosives. The fire escape that Ayumu had first escaped on was now locked. Rio was just about ready to say the hell with caution and just blow a huge hole in the walls. And while they all dithered out here, who knew what Kousuke was enduring. She wanted to scream. 

"The roof." Ayumu's voice was quiet in the shadows. He'd stood before the building after circling it twice and taking note of all the ways they'd been shut out. In the week that had passed, he'd recovered from the effects of the poisoning. He'd sworn he was ready to go a couple of days ago, but ended up waiting at Eyes's insistence. After losing the rather quiet argument, he'd given in and let them watch over him while they brainstormed a plan. No plan they'd come up with had factored in that every single entrance would be blocked, up to and including any ventilation or windows that they could fit into. He couldn't help feeling that the extra precautionary measures were like bait to a trap. They were meant to get in, just not meant to think it was easy. 

Kousuke stood on the rooftop, his eyes following the three figures below. Outwardly, he showed nothing but the programmed calm of the false personality that the Hunter by his side had implanted into him. Inside, he was banging against mental walls, trying desperately to move under his own power, to take one of the various knives hidden on his person and gut the woman standing next to him. But the body remained still, only moving as she directed it. He was on the verge of killing those that meant the most to him, and he was helpless. He wanted to scream.

The Hunter smiled, watching them and reading the lips of Narumi Ayumu. Not much longer, now. She sent the order down for someone to make sure that the monsters and their sympathizer found their way to the hidden back stairs. She couldn't wait to see their faces when she showed them her surprise. And soon after that, all of them would be dead and the world a little cleaner. 

The younger Narumi stared up at the top of the building eyes narrowed in scrutiny. He turned to the other two a moment later and motioned them to follow him. 

Rio followed readily, tense and wary for any possible ambush. That the Hunter hadn't sent people to attack them bothered her. 

It bothered Eyes too, and he couldn't help but feel like they were walking straight into a trap, like reliving the story that Kousuke had told about the rescue of Rio and that Hiyono girl. But there was no other way to go after Kousuke, and they certainly weren't going to leave him there. He trusted Ayumu to get them in, but the rest would be up to all of them. 

Rio caught notice of something, a line of shadow where the mortar between old bricks had fallen away. They had passed that old wall several times but...was it her imagination, or was the crack wider this time? She rubbed her eyes and looked again, but it still seemed wider. Not wanting to do something dumb just because of wishful thinking, she looked for a second opinion. "Eyes? Do you notice anything about that wall, or am I just going nuts?" 

Blue eyes turned to where Rio was pointing and then narrowed. He hadn't seen anything there and a glance in Ayumu's direction showed that the other boy hadn't noticed anything before either. There was something very suspicious about that... "It appears as if it's a weak spot that was left untouched." 

"A weak spot that wasn't there five minutes ago," Ayumu said bluntly. 

Rio glared at the crack in the wall, which as she studied it was looking more and more like a secret door. "As much as I'd _like_ to say ignore this and find our own way up, we've pretty much confirmed that there isn't another way. So what do we do?" 

Ayumu crossed his arms. "Hang-glide from another building? I think it goes without saying that I don't like this at all." 

"I think it goes without saying that it might be our only choice," Eyes responded, his frown just as deep as the brunette's. 

"Well, we could go back and have Eyes use his charming face to cajole a helicopter from somewhere, but that would take too long. I want Kousuke out of here!" 

The Hunter smiled at her newest pet. "Hear that, they want you out of my care." 

Not-Kousuke raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Away from my lovely mistress? I think not." 

_Eeew...okay, that's just gross. Enough with the sappy talk with _my_ body!  
_

Ayumu sighed. "Then let's see where it leads, shall we?"  
As expected, the crack in the wall did turn out to be a cunningly designed secret door, opening to a stairwell leading up. It was as dusty and ill-used as the rest of the outer building, but there were several sets of footprints in the inch-thick dust, including one set that was too small to belong to a full adult. 

"I...don't like this," Ayumu whispered. 

Eyes nodded his head in agreement, but followed the other boy in ascending the stairs. 

"I agree. This just _reeks_ of a trap." Rio whispered, glad that they were all armed to the teeth. She'd even gotten Ayumu to carry one of Kousuke's daggers, though whether or not he would actually use it was unknown. But she followed the others up. After all, what else could they do? 

"Especially since that hole in the wall is a new addition. It's like they gave us long enough for them to get their defenses together, and _then _let us in," Ayumu mused. 

Rio nodded, glancing at Ayumu before moving her gaze back to the stairwell in front of them. She wasn't finding any traps, but it wasn't going to hurt to be cautious. "I know. But what else can we do? Wander out, let Kousuke die, and when we all met again in the afterlife and he asks about it, we just say 'Sorry, buddy, but it was all just too much of a setup so we decided to high-tail it out of there and let you rot'? He'd curse us to spend eternity as turnips or banana slugs or something like that." 

"I wouldn't leave him behind, but I can't just pretend that everything's all right either." Ayumu looked towards the top of the staircase. He sometimes felt like he had to keep talking, or he'd run out of the nerve to go through with things. He'd gotten better since meeting the Blade Children, but he still had a distinct lack of faith and desire to go throwing himself into unpredictable situations. 

They soon reached the top of the stairs, where a simple old door barred their way. Rio glanced at the others for confirmation before pushing it open, squinting against the sudden daylight in the gloomy tunnel. 

"Saa," said a familiar voice, "And here I was thinking I'd have to come looking for you. You guys took forever."

Eyes started a little, glancing around for the source of the voice, knowing whose it was. Even Ayumu recognized it and was on the lookout. Both were afraid it was a trap, and mostly sure they were right. 

There was an amused chuckle. "Well, are you going to hang around in the stairwell like idiots, or come out on the roof?" 

"Now now, Kousuke. They have every right to be wary. After all, we're all here to kill them." That was a female voice, and one that Ayumu would recognize, even if the others couldn't. 

Eyes stiffened next to Rio, and his expression was immediately cold. He took the first step forward, and Ayumu followed regardless of the risk. The brunette really thought it would be best if they backed away from this. If that were really Kousuke and they had to fight him, it was possible that something really bad would happen. 

Sure enough, there was Kousuke, leaning casually against the wall and smirking at them. Rio's eyes narrowed, both in suspicion and a little confusion. Something seemed..._odd_ about him, but not in a way that could be easily pinpointed. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't making any extra movements at all, or that the few movements he did make were made with a certain fluid grace that seemed out of place in the redhead. Not that he wasn't graceful, since he had more than enough agility to get by, but something about the way he moved didn't seem quite natural. 

And standing next to him, totally at ease, was the Hunter, who smiled in a way that very much reminded Rio of honeyed arsenic. Sweet, but poisonous. "So good of you to join the party. Kousuke has been telling me all sorts of interesting things. But then, that _is_ why I sent him." 

Rio's blood seemed to freeze in her veins, but that was nothing compared to what she heard next come out of Kousuke's mouth. 

"I merely do what my mistress wishes."

Ayumu frowned deeply, making the faces that Eyes wouldn't dare. "That's her," he growled. "And that's _not _Kousuke." His eyes locked on those green-gold ones, reaching out for that sense he got that something wasn't right. His instincts screamed that this was somehow not the same person that had dared to save his life and protect him when he needed it most. 

Kousuke raised both eyebrows in a look of amused surprise. "What, don't you recognize me, Narumi Ayumu? Oh, or perhaps it's the attitude change? That's easy enough to explain. It was all an act. I've been working for Samantha here for almost two years now, gathering info on my fellow Blade Children. But now she's got enough, and I don't have to pretend anymore." 

Something odd was happening while Kousuke spoke. Ayumu could hear a second voice, exactly the same, but the words were wildly different. However, no one else seemed to hear them... 

_Oh, like hell! I can't act my way out of a paper bag! And what's with this 'mistress' crap?! Dammit, lemme go!!!  
_

The brunette narrowed his eyes at Kousuke for a moment, focusing harder on what could possibly be that complacent exterior, trying to listen for that second voice. Then his gaze turned on the woman. "What did you do to him?" 

The Hunter shrugged and waved a hand in an indifferent motion. "Nothing, just brought him back to my side and gave him orders. It was a pity I had to shoot that gorgeous body of his, but we _had _to make it realistic. Otherwise, you would have been suspicious, and never would have brought my real target here." 

Kousuke looked mildly bored. "And we spent the whole week waiting for you to bring Rutherford here. We actually had to show you the door." 

_BITCH!!! If you make me hurt him, I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do, but it _won't_ be pretty!  
_

Eyes clenched his fists at his sides. He didn't have to ask why he was always the one being targeted. He supposed that Rio had been right when she'd said all those things a week ago. He let out a soft breath. "You could have found a better way of inviting me, couldn't you?" 

Kousuke chuckled, his gold-green eyes gleaming like gems, lovely but hard. "After all the time we spent together, I knew this was the most effective way. I worked very hard to get into yours and Takeuchi's affections. And hey, I got to lure Little Narumi here as well. I wasn't sure he'd come back after his clever little escape. My mistress wants to study him, you see. Find out just what the heck's so important. I won't say it hasn't been fun, though. The moments before I left were...amusing." 

Rio let out a low growl, caught between hurt and rage. 

And if Ayumu wasn't going mad, she wasn't the only one. _NO! Don't listen to him, Eyes! It wasn't a joke! I'd never do that to you! Dammit, why can't I stop this?!  
_

"I'm not going to be _anyone's _guinea pig," Ayumu said with a shake of his head. "You all got me once, but you're not going to do it again. We came here for Kousuke, but if he just wants to hang around with a bunch of losers like you, then it's his own business." He waved his hand as if he didn't care one way or the other. 

"Free will brought him, free will could take him," was all Eyes would say. Not a single expression showed on his face. 

The voice that only Ayumu could hear...sobbed. It was the sound of someone who had watched his worst nightmares come true, and lost everything he treasured. 

_There it is again..._ Ayumu stared hard at the redhead, wondering why he was hearing something that didn't seem to be there. What was going on? It _did _seem like it was in character for Kousuke to play the winning side, but there was still something very ... off about the whole situation. Ayumu really didn't believe that Kousuke would have helped him escape if he worked for the Hunter the whole time. After all, they wanted a piece of him now, right? Why let that get away when they could have prevented him from escaping the whole time. It didn't make sense. His mind was trying to reach for that voice, that thing he was hearing. Had he just gone crazy? 

If so, then whoever he was hearing was crazy too. While Ayumu didn't manage a full touch, he somehow got the sensation of 'brushing' against the unseen speaker, and _that_ had seemed like the exact feel of Kousuke. Held up to what they were currently facing, it was obvious to tell which one was a fake. 

_N-nani...? Narumi-ototou? Is that...you? _The voice was so quiet, so unsure, as if he couldn't quite bring himself to believe. 

The Hunter, meanwhile, grew bored with the dialogue. She got up and placed a quick peck to Kousuke's lips. The real Kousuke immediately forgot about the insane notion that Ayumu could possibly be hearing him. 

_AAAAUGH! My lips are defiled! Bleach! Need bleach!_

A sword was in Eyes's hands before he even realized it, the slim blade coming from somewhere beneath the long trench coat he wore. Even if Kousuke did work for the other side now, true or not, that woman was not going to get away with stealing what he thought was his. The blade glinted in the sunlight, and he bared it offensively at the both of them. 

Ayumu rubbed his temples when he heard the other voice again. _What is this..._? He glanced over at Eyes and then gave Rio a worried expression. This encounter wasn't going to go very well. 

Rio wasn't much of a help. Her gaze was just as fierce and angry as Eyes's, thinking she had been betrayed by one she had seen as a brother. 

Kousuke pulled away from the blonde, glancing at the three in front of him. "Anger," he murmured, almost to himself, "anger and...confusion? What would confuse you so much, Little Narumi?" 

The Hunter shrugged and stepped back. "Never mind that. Be a good boy and take care of the Blade Children, won't you? Just keep the Narumi boy alive." 

Kousuke grinned, and it wasn't a reassuring sight. "As you wish." 

The voice within suddenly sounded panicked. _No, not this! Don't make me! Please don't--Narumi-ototou, if you can really hear me and I'm not just going mad from what that bitch did to me, then listen now! RUN! Get Eyes and Rio out of here! They can't fight me! I'll kill them!  
_

_But...we can't just leave you here..._ Ayumu looked torn between listening to that disembodied voice and going along with the others to fight Kousuke. 

Eyes took a step forward. "You will get neither of those wishes today." 

_If you don't...you will have to kill me. I can't live with the knowledge that I killed Eyes and Rio. I just can't!  
_

Kousuke just smirked, and suddenly a blaze of fire exploded around the sword Eyes held, turning the metal red hot in his hands. 

"What the--?!" Ayumu said, startled. 

Eyes bit his lip and held out for a moment before dropping the blade. 

_Kousuke...what was that?!  
_

Kousuke laughed, and the air around them suddenly grew very warm. "I suppose I should mention that my mistress taught me a few new tricks while I was here. I can call the flames at will, now. And I can feel your fear. And of most interest..." There was a bright reddish glow around Kousuke for a minute, and when it faded, they were staring at a Kousuke much transformed. Leopard spotting trailed down his fair skin, and crimson ears poked out of his hair. A long sinuous tail twitched behind him, and his hands were clawed. He smirked, showing fang. 

The voice inside, the real Kousuke, didn't get the chance to answer Ayumu. He had started screaming, as if the transformation hurt him. 

Eyes actually had the grace to look shocked, his mouth parting into an 'o' of surprise, taking one step back. It was as if they'd stepped into some sort of strange nightmare, and he certainly wanted to wake up. 

Ayumu didn't move, trusting the other two to watch his back for a moment. His eyes closed and he concentrated on that screaming, trying to latch onto the voice...trying to find the real Kousuke. He didn't understand how, but that Hunter had managed to superimpose a submissive personality over the top of the real thing, and that was not acceptable. 

Ayumu could _almost_ see him, using that strange unexplained instinct of his. The barest outlines of a vision, of Kousuke curled up within himself, boxed in on all sides and helpless to do anything but pray to a god he didn't believe in for death. This close, he could feel some of Kousuke's emotions through the redhead's empathic ability. There was fear, and there was pain, but most prevalent was despair. The ones he loved thought he'd betrayed them. They would never trust him again, and he'd be left alone to deal with the shame of what the Hunter had done and a bunch of abilities forced into fruition far before their time. 

Ayumu may have never seen Kousuke cry, but here, he could _feel_ it. 

It hurt... Ayumu's hand went to his chest, the fabric of his shirt getting twisted into his fingers as he tried to wrap himself around that feeling. _If that's really you, Kousuke... you have to help us fight what she's done to you..._ He didn't know if Kousuke could hear him, but he couldn't just give up. 

Eyes was reaching out to take Rio's hand. He was beginning to think that they should run and he didn't know what Ayumu was doing. 

The true Kousuke seemed to shudder, but forced himself to calm enough to think. _It...might help if my body's distracted. I know from the information in what she did to me that this complex looks over the ocean. If you can knock me into the water, I... My body will probably kick into basic survival instincts, because I don't know how to swim.  
_

Rio squeezed Eyes's hand tightly, but was keeping an eye on Ayumu. He looked in pain, but at the same time as if he was concentrating on something. She didn't know what was going on, only that the temperature was still rising on the roof, as if Kousuke was trying to set the very building aflame. She palmed the tiny pistol she kept hidden up her sleeve, part of her quailing at the thought that she was about to use this on someone she had cared for. 

_I__t's kind of pointless to go through all this just to make you drown..._ Ayumu's eyes opened slowly. "Rio..." 

_If I drown, I drown! At least Eyes and Rio will be alive, and they can kill the bitch that did this!  
_

Rio looked over at Ayumu, glad that he no longer looked like he was in pain, but confused by the sudden look of purpose. "Nani?" 

"Can you take out the Hunter on your own?" His voice was almost like a breathy sigh, as quiet as he could get it. 

Eyes was looking at him now, and Ayumu turned to meet that pretty blue gaze. He looked determined, and this time, there was no room for doubt. He had to believe in their only chance...and himself for making such a decision. For all he knew, that voice could have been something the Hunter had done to distract him, but he didn't think so. He was more inclined to believe he'd been speaking with the real Kousuke, even if he didn't know how. The timing had to be right... 

Rio's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "Whatever your plan is, Little Narumi, you'd better explain it in full if we get out of here." 

"You mean 'when'." Ayumu stepped towards them, his arms slightly outward as if he were giving in. He raised his voice now so that Kousuke and Samantha could hear him. "Well, I guess if I'm what you want..." His eyes sharpened, landing on the redhead as he gathered up his nerve. "You can have me!" He darted forward, bracing himself and slamming into Kousuke full force. 

The redhead let out a startled growl, very much like the hunting cat he so resembled. It almost toppled him over the edge of the roof, but he managed to brace himself at the last minute. 

With the redhead distracted, the temperature died back down, and Rio turned to aim at the Hunter, who was beginning to look angry.

Ayumu was in his face now, grinning as if he knew the answer to the world's questions. "So, Asazuki...it's my turn to challenge you. Do you know what is alive, but not alive, real but not real, and murderous yet despairing?" His voice carried across the roof, his eyes intense as he watched the Blade Child. 

Eyes watched the whole thing with that slightly stunned look still on his face. He wasn't sure how to gain his composure again, and with Kousuke acting like he was and Ayumu looking like he was about to send him off the roof, he didn't think he could. Narumi's words drifted back to him, and he puzzled over what the boy was trying to say. 

_Cuuuute. That's an interesting way to describe this little slice of hell. Knock me over, Narumi-ototou. The weak point is my shoulder.  
_

Kousuke snarled. "Why the fuck would I know the answer to something like that?" 

That made Rio pause. That statement was more than out of character. Kousuke adored riddles, and she knew that adoration had been genuine every time she saw it. To hear him refuse to even consider a riddle set off all her garbage alarms. Eyes too also wondered at the lack of interest in riddles. Even in the heat of opposition, this challenge was right up his alley. 

"The answer is right here in my hands." Ayumu braced his hand and slammed his palm into Kousuke's wounded shoulder, already knowing the weak point before the real Kousuke had pointed it out. 

Kousuke let out a yowl, the sudden sharp pain making his body go numb down that side. He lost his precarious footing and fell from the roof towards the sea below.  
The real Kousuke gave a soft sigh of relief. _Arigatou, Na--_Ayumu._ And in case I don't make it after this, there's two other Blade children somewhere in the complex. Get them out, and...tell Eyes I'm sorry._ And then he hit the water. Base panic took over, making the programmed personality brittle as it lost its foundation. All it would need now was the slightest push from them both. 

_Stay with me..._ Ayumu grasped the edge of the roof, the force of the momentum he'd put behind the push almost tumbling him as well. He stared down at the unsettled waves where Kousuke had broken the surface of the water, wind whipping his hair around his face. _Let him fight it, not you...  
_

A flurry of movement rushed beside him. Eyes ran past, vaulting off the edge and diving after Kousuke. He knew that the redhead hated water, and likely couldn't swim. Programmed or not, he wouldn't let him die. 

Kousuke shoved against the mental barriers that kept him trapped, barely noticing when his body sank like a stone. All that mattered was gaining his freedom. And between the force of both their minds, the programming cracked, then shattered. Kousuke's and Ayumu's minds touched, then connected. And suddenly, there was more to it than that.  
To Kousuke's mind, it was almost like the beginnings of a spider web, but instead of thin strands of silk, it was the strands of memory that made up his life, with Ayumu's memories anchoring it from the center. Kousuke knew instinctively that if he had wanted to know anything at all about Ayumu, all he had to do was touch that web, and Ayumu could do the same if he wanted any answers about Kousuke. For that reason, Kousuke refused to touch it. There were secrets about himself that he didn't want anyone knowing, and he figured Ayumu was the same.

Unsure of how to control this new connection, Ayumu was trapped inside this little world that looked like the beginnings of embroidery, but with light instead of thread. His physical hands released the guard wall that he was leaning against, his entire frame sinking down to his knees. Amber eyes had gone distant, withdrawn into himself and that strange place where he could hear the real Kousuke. He was defenseless like this, but it didn't seem to matter. _What...is this?  
_

That was how he knew when Kousuke began having trouble. Now that the redhead was back in control of his own body, he didn't have the false strength of the programming to rely on. He'd spent the entire week with no real food or true sleep, and with the shocks and emotional upheavals of the day, it just shut down, dragging Kousuke into unconsciousness beneath the waves. He wasn't even aware enough to realize he was drowning. 

Meanwhile, the Hunter was annoyed that her pet had failed, but her secondary target, the Narumi boy, seemed to be in some sort of odd trance, leaving him vulnerable. She began to approach. 

Rio, however, wasn't having any of that. She raised her little pistol and fired all of the three shots that would fit in that tiny weapon, killing the woman before she could even touch the brunette. Nobody messed around with the hope of the Blade Children if she had anything to say about it!

Eyes hit the water in a clean slice, his focus entirely on the direction that Kousuke's body was going...which seemed to be down. The redhead barely fought, not even with the panic that usually would come with someone that didn't know how to swim. He moved as fast as he could, shedding the extra weight of his coat to get to the sinking Blade Child, his arms wrapping around the unconscious form. He then kicked as hard as he could, pulling them both back to the surface. His head broke free, and he took a huge gasp of hair. The water was cold, and he wanted to get to shore as soon as possible. 

Kousuke was breathing, but only barely, with a hitch that suggested water in the lungs. And though he had always been slender, his waist felt too thin under Eyes's arms. There were also signs of exhaustion, in the way his skin was taking on a slightly grayish pallor, and the dark shadows under his eyes that the yellow shades had hidden before getting knocked off on impact with the water's surface. 

The deep worry that came from just one look at Kousuke's features overshadowed any other thought. He dragged the other to the shore and pulled him out, laying him back to start getting the water out of his lungs.

With Kousuke's unconsciousness, Ayumu began to pull himself back from the Web within his mind, clarity coming back to his golden eyes. He blinked a couple of times, surprised that he was on the ground instead of still gripping the edge. It had felt like hours had passed in the span of a few minutes. He immediately searched for Rio, realising he'd blanked out in the moment that Eyes had run past, leaving the girl alone with that Hunter. 

Rio was quite calm, kneeling over the corpse of the woman that had once been a Hunter, and methodically going through her pockets, checking her identification. "Hmph. I think I've seen this woman on the news. She's wanted in Germany for illegal human experimentation." 

Ayumu glanced over at her. "That right?" He got up slowly and then looked over the edge of the roof, letting out a sigh of relief as he saw both Eyes and Kousuke on the shore. "We should get finished here and get out as quickly as possible. Kousuke said to check the inside of the compound...there are two more Blade Children that she hasn't killed in there." 

Rio paused, then gave Ayumu a funny look. "When did he say that? I certainly didn't hear it." 

"It's...a long story. Remember how you were saying that I'd have to explain my plan if it worked?" He glared down at the woman that had almost brought about his early death and then headed for the doorway that they had come from. 

Rio nodded. "Save the story until we get to Eyes. I have the feeling that he's going to want to hear this even more than I do."


	5. Chapter 5

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 5/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

ooo

Kousuke was drifting back towards conciousness, but fighting it tooth and nail. He knew instinctively that waking up would not be pleasant, and there was the potential for a lot of hurt. But somebody was out there, in the waking world, and that person was doing something that was making it easier to breathe, and easier to wake. He got conscious enough to realize that his lungs rather resembled water balloons, and started coughing up what felt to him like half of the ocean. It might not have been, but Kousuke was half convinced that water regenerated itself just to annoy him, anyway.

Eyes let out a soft breath of relief as Kousuke came around, helping the redhead to turn enough so that the water would come out easier. He patted the other's back and held him up so that he wouldn't fall over. "I've got you," he said quietly.

"Ugh," the redhead muttered when the coughing had reduced down to simple panting for breath. His mind still hadn't kicked back into 'on' mode yet, so he just said the first thing that crossed over his dazed senses. "I have Hunter cooties on my mouth. I want disinfectant. And a lot of aspirin. Ow..."

"I think the water took care of the cooties," Eyes murmured, tightening his embrace on Kousuke a little. "And the aspirin is at home."

The redhead shuddered, leaning back into the embrace. He hurt all over, with his shoulder and his head being the two most intense points. He was also wet, cold, and felt almost too weak to move. But he was in control of himself again, and he hadn't killed his family. Slowly, he levered himself up enough to turn in Eyes's arms and embrace the silver-haired man with the strength born of desperation and relief. "Gomen," he whispered. "I didn't mean-- I didn't want to--"

Eyes pressed a finger to his lips to quiet the apology. "Do not apologize for something you had no control over. The woman that caused this is likely now dead. We can walk away from it as if it were another victory."

Kousuke's gold-green eyes were dark with guilt and anguish, and he shook his head. "Not yet. She almost got me to kill you. And it would have worked, if Ayumu hadn't gotten the answer before he ever asked the riddle."

"The riddle..." It had confused him, but the most that Eyes understood was that it wasn't the real Kousuke that had spoken of betrayal. And that was all he'd needed. "I don't believe in dwelling on 'almost', Kousuke."

Kousuke nodded and laid his head on Eyes's shoulder, hoping the other would allow that one moment of weakness. "I know, but...I'm doing my best not to freak out or break down into tears, here. Just gimme a minute. Then...we need to go back in there, get the other two, and burn any record of the Hunter's work." He took a deep shuddering breath, more to calm himself than in the need for extra air. "The answer to the riddle is an implanted personality, real and alive because it works from a living host, but not real or alive because it's something born out of chemicals and subliminal programming. It's murderous because its one purpose is to kill, but despairing because the real personality is still aware behind it, but unable to stop it." A small sob burst from his lips, and it was all he could do not to just break down. "I tried! I really tried, but I couldn't do anything but sit and watch ass she used my body to try ad hurt you all!"

Eyes didn't know what to say. The answer to the riddle seemed so obvious to him now, and he hated that for a brief moment, he'd almost believed the fake personality. But it was in his nature to doubt everything, especially since it had become an integral part of staying alive. He could justify his reasons, but that didn't stop him from feeling bad that he'd come so close to losing faith in Kousuke. The musician cradled Kousuke in his arms and didn't care that this might be perceived as weak. It had been close... a fight without fighting, a challenge that he hadn't quite been prepared to accept. It was over now...and yet it seemed like just the beginning.

Kousuke could feel Eyes's sadness and guilt, and he tightened his hold as much as his exhausted body could manage. "Don't...don't feel bad. It wasn't your fault. How could you have known? If Ayumu hadn't heard me, somehow..." The redhead absently noted he'd dropped the whole 'ototou' thing, but calling Ayumu by that didn't feel right, anymore. Not when he'd fixed something that not even Kiyotaka would have been able to touch.

"Heard?" Eyes questioned. "You mean...heard something other than the fake exterior? Is that possible?"

Kousuke shrugged. "It better be, or both Ayumu and I have become delusional under stress. I don't know how he heard me, how he could talk to me, but he did. And...I'm still connected to him. I can feel him at the edges of my mind, like I was part of a mental web, with him as the anchor point. It's very strange and a little scary."

"It sounds that way..." Eyes just held him close for a moment now that there wasn't any more immediate danger. He was cold...the plunge into the water a little icy, and he shivered against Kousuke, burying his face in the other's neck. He vowed to never let anything or anyone come so close to taking one of his own away from him ever again.

Kousuke tangled his fingers into Eyes's soft hair, just glad for the closeness. He could feel the other boy shiver against him, and he concentrated, calling a very low ring of fire around them to keep them both warm. He knew he shouldn't, his own strength already almost spent, but he wasn't about to let the other Blade Child stay cold and possibly get sick. It would be bad enough with just him and Rio recovering. All three of them bedridden would be dangerous. And he didn't want Eyes to suffer anymore, not for any reason.

"Kousuke...don't..." Eyes felt the warmth cover him like a blanket, and he let out a quiet breath. "You've been through enough. I'm fine." He didn't want Kousuke to waste his energy, not when he'd already been pushed to the limits of his resources by that woman. It was almost a shame that he couldn't kill her himself, and that thought surprised him. He wasn't accustomed to killing like he was evading, but he felt that perhaps this time, it was personal.

Kousuke slowly shook his head, stubborn as always. "You're cold," he whispered, "I don't want you to get sick."

Eyes felt like he was shaking more now from his own nerves than anything else. The warmth was there, but he was still worried about how close he'd come to losing Kousuke...and how close he was to losing himself to Kousuke. "I'm not cold...when you're near..." It was barely a whisper, as if he didn't want anyone to hear it, not even Kousuke. He couldn't explain the knot twisting in his stomach, and to lose some of his composure did not make it any easier.

Kousuke's senses were a lot sharper in his half cat form, and his eyes widened as he heard those whispered words, and felt the tiniest thread of fear from Eyes's heart. "Then..." he whispered, just as frightened for the trust he was about to put in the other boy, "...I'll try to never leave your side." He wished he could have given something more solid, but they both knew that their lives weren't ones that afforded the luxury of promised forever.

Eyes felt like he didn't want to break the moment. For the first time, he felt the twinge of bitterness at being what he was. How had it been so easy for him to accept his fate and then turn around and fight it? How had he gone all this time defying his Fate without thinking about anything else? He supposed that survival was indeed the strongest instinct, but... Now he resented it, hated it. He wanted to live like Ayumu and Hiyono, not like a Blade Child. And he wanted the same life for Kousuke and Rio. That had to be what they were fighting for. "Thank you...Kousuke..."

Kousuke gave a soft smile. "Anytime."

Meanwhile, Rio and Ayumu had just reached the ground and were approaching the shore. Rio saw the other two before they saw her, and she stopped, grabbing Ayumu's arm to stop him as well. "Awwww!" she gushed, "Aren't they _adorable_, Little Narumi?"

Ayumu blinked as he was stopped and looked where she was gushing at. Eyes was curled protectively around Kousuke, and he could almost swear there was a soft, reddish glow around them. He didn't know why, but looking at them like this changed something inside. After the last week, he had been questioning everything that had happened since meeting the Blade Children and beginning the search anew for Kiyotaka. Like Hiyono, he'd first viewed the Blade Children as killers, ruthless and heartless, but he was beginning to discover that such an assumption was a far cry from the reality. Their Fate seemed to threaten their humanity, and fighting it so hard and so ruthlessly looked like the only thing that allowed them to live beyond their title. Ayumu felt...a little guilty for misunderstanding. The picture was becoming clearer now, blurred only by what Eyes had still chosen not to tell him. He hoped the time for him to learn everything would come soon.

Kousuke saw them first, and regretfully lowered the barrier of fire he had set up, grimacing a little at the lost warmth. He really wanted to be in dry clothes. He loosened his grip on Eyes, doing his best to sit up a little straighter, though his body protested loudly. He put his jester's mask back on, not quite ready to be so open around Ayumu or Rio. "Oi, Ayumu!" he called, "I'm not making gambles with you anymore! You hit too hard!"

Eyes lifted his head, and his own mask was back on, trying to look as if the hold on Kousuke was merely to preserve warmth between them.

Ayumu gave him a look and smirked. "Are you kidding? I've wanted to hit you since the day I met you."

"Fuck you!" Kousuke shot back, but he was grinning. Banter, he knew. Banter was comforting at the moment. Then he made the mistake of trying to stand. The world blacked out on him for a few seconds, a roaring sound in his ears, and he began to fall again, his legs refusing to support him.

Eyes caught him before he could hit the ground, easily supporting his weight. "Careful," was all he would allow himself to say in front of the other two.

Ayumu was all business again after that. They really needed to be back home now, and the longer they stayed here, the more chance they had of running into the Hunter's friends, and he wasn't really up to that. "You said that there were two others in the compound?" he asked Kousuke.

Kousuke nodded, putting one hand around Eyes's shoulders for extra support. "I felt them, two little points of fear and anger. Until I realized what the Hunter was doing, I thought I was caught in another drug dream. Speaking of, I think we should destroy the lab. I really don't want other Hunters taking her methods. And then, I want to sleep for a week and eat something real. I've been on nothing but this weird sort of subliminal half-sleep and IV infusions for however long I've been here. How long _have_ I been here, anyway? Things just started to melt all together after a while."

"A week," Ayumu answered before Eyes could. The flash of darker blue in the Englishman's eyes was not a good thing. "Maybe...you and Eyes should head back." He glanced down at Rio, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Do you think so, Rio?"

Rio took a hard look at Kousuke's condition and nodded. "You're a wreck, Kousuke. I really think Eyes should take you home and put you to bed." _With him snuggled next to you, preferably. And let's just add Ayumu on the other side and ooooh, that's a nice picture._ She quickly squashed her yaoi fantasies, getting her mind back on business. "We can find the other Blade Children and destroy the lab without your help."

"But..." Kousuke protested, knowing she was right, but not comfortable with leaving Rio and Ayumu there alone.

"It'll be all right." Ayumu tilted his head a little, the smirk something softer now. "Let me return the favor, Kousuke."

Eyes nodded. "If you're sure you can handle it, Rio, then I agree with that plan."

Kousuke finally noticed that Ayumu had started calling him by his name, and it made him feel oddly warm. He wondered when Ayumu had started giving him that respect. "Arigatou, Ayumu." he sighed, reaching up with his free hand to rub at sore eyes. Gods, he was tired!

"What, no thanks for me?" Rio pouted.

"No, because you're a brat."

"Grrrrr...I'll get you for that, Kousuke!"

"What, you'd hit a defenseless guy?"

"If it was you, definitely."

"Boy, you're vicious..."

Ayumu shook his head. Some things just didn't change, and the fact that Rio and Kousuke quarreled like siblings was one of those things. "You should both continue this later. We have things to do."

"Yes." Just like he'd done with Ayumu, he very easily and gracefully swept Kousuke up into his arms, shifting him so that he could carry him away without much difficulty. "You two be careful."

Rio smiled. "Of course! And you take good care of Kousuke! Otherwise, he's liable to do something stupid like drown himself in a teacup or whatever."

Kousuke flipped her the bird, perfectly comfortable in Eyes's arms. "Ayumu, keep an eye on Rio, ne? Otherwise, she might do something crazy like try to steal the entire world's melon supplies or whatever."

"MOU!"

"That's enough, you two," Eyes said, turning to leave. "We'll see you later." Without another word, he carried Kousuke between a couple of darkened buildings, sticking to the shadows as he made his way home. His hold on the redhead never faltered, and all the while he would glance down just to make sure that Kousuke was still all right. After all this, he was going to take the other Blade Child's safety very seriously. They had both crossed something very big tonight, and he wasn't about to let that slip through his fingers.

Kousuke lay quiet for a while, but when they started getting to areas where Eyes wouldn't be able to avoid populated streets, he tugged on the other boy's sleeve. "Oi...stop for a minute..."

Surprised at the request, he did as he was asked, again looking down with those intense blue eyes of his in case there was something wrong."What is it?"

The redhead gave him a wry little grin and pointed to the fuzzy ears sticking out of his head. "Somehow, I don't think you want the stares that come with a celebrity carrying what looks to be a half-dead cosplay junkie. I need to change back, and that takes a minute."

"Is there something I should do?" The ears hadn't really stood out to him after Kousuke had taken a dive off the roof. Now that he looked at them more closely, and the markings that went with it, he couldn't help but be fascinated.

The redhead sighed unhappily. "Put me down. Changing hurts like hell, and I might get a little indiscriminate with the claws. I'd rather that your fan club didn't come after me for bloodying up your pretty face." The crimson tail that had also somehow escaped inspection twitched anxiously.

Eyes nodded quietly and set Kousuke down, holding up a finger for him to wait just a moment. He circled the redhead once he was sure he had his footing, absently touching an ear at one turn, the line of the tail in the other, inspecting Kousuke's second form with quiet wonder now that he had the chance.

Being a Blade Child, Kousuke was not familiar with large amounts of physical contact, especially since one of the first things any Blade Child learned was how many ways a person could kill with just bare hands. So the redhead was totally unprepared for how pleasant the little touches Eyes was giving his ears and tail actually felt. Before he knew it, he'd relaxed a little, and a deep rumble had begun in his chest, green-gold eyes fluttering shut as he leaned just the slightest bit into the pianist's hands.

The sound startled Eyes, and for a moment, he pulled back as if he'd done something wrong. But when he saw the relaxed expression on Kousuke's face and put the pieces together, he understood that the sound the other was making certainly related to nothing bad. "Is this...something _they _made...or was this...inside you?" Eyes whispered, referring to the feline side. He wouldn't have judged the redhead any if it was a creation of the Hunter, but he did want to know. He began touching the ears again, tracing their shape and brushing the little tufts of fur at the tips.

"Well, I don't _remember_ any experiments that would have caused this if it were artificial, but they kept me pretty incoherent a lot of the time. The Hunter, she implied that this is...natural, in a way. That it came from my mother. She said...that _none_ of the Blade Children were human, that we all have nonhuman mothers. But she was more than a little whacked, and I can't tell you if it was the truth or if she was just playing more mind games with her new toy. You should see the other form I changed into, the first time. Big red leopard. Scared me to death."

"I'll bet it was incredible," Eyes mused, coming around to face Kousuke again. He didn't want to add to Kousuke's exhaustion by keeping him out any longer than he had to. So regretfully, he had pulled himself away from the feline features, standing with his hands behind his back, and waiting.

Kousuke took a deep breath and began the change back to the fully human body. So far as he could tell, the pain wasn't any less or any easier to bear this time around, either. But he didn't dare scream out there in the open, where anyone passing by the alleys could hear, so he did his best to remain silent as his entire body seemed to suddenly become one huge burning mass of pain. A choked whimper escaped, but that was all, and after a minute or so, the Blade Child fell to his knees, pale as a sheet and his eyes so dilated that there was only a slight ring of color, but as human as he was ever going to be.

Eyes was immediately there to embrace him, wishing that he hadn't lost his coat when he'd jumped into the water. He carefully scooped the other up into his arms again to carry him the rest of the way home. "Will you be all right?"

The redhead gave a very catlike hiss as he was lifted, his skin still burning from the change, but he laid his head trustingly against Eyes's shoulder. "Short-term...yeah," he replied, his voice breathy and a little dazed, threatening impending shock, "the pain usually dies down after a while. Long-term...I don't know. It feels...it feels like I'm not physically _ready _to be changing like that. But the Hunter did something that forced it, and now I can't just lock it away anymore."

The answer worried Eyes, but at least he knew that what he was told was the truth. Kousuke wouldn't lie or exaggerate about something so important. "The good news is that none of us would force you to take that form ever again before you were ready." His footsteps were more hurried than before, his head ducked just slightly to keep his face hidden. He took mostly back ways to their private little tower, but one never knew how sneaky his fans could be.

Kousuke just clung to him, not currently caring about Eyes's horde of ravening psycho-girls. He was hurt, hungry, and bone-tired. And, severely suppressed until no one was around to see it, deathly afraid. He just wanted to be back in a place he recognized as 'safe'.

Eyes did his best to grant that wish, even without it being spoken. Before long, they had arrived at the building, and from there, the elevator ride was surprisingly short. The musician went straight for Kousuke's room, wanting him to be in the most familiar and comforting place.

Kousuke relaxed a little when they reached his room, letting out a very soft sigh of relief. There had been a few times over the last week where he hadn't been all that sure he'd ever see it again. It made him feel better to know he was home.

The bed was a little rumpled, as if someone had slept in it and then tried to remake it to hide the evidence. Eyes hoped that Kousuke wouldn't mind that Ayumu had spent most of the week recovering in here. As he lay the redhead down, the faintest scent of satsuma tickled Kousuke's more sensitive nose, a bit of evidence that Ayumu couldn't hide just by making the bed.

Kousuke gave a soft chuckle, smelling the scent of citrus and recognizing it instantly. Not because of the satsuma, but because of the underlying earthy scent that was Ayumu's alone, tempered just slightly with the spices he used when cooking. "Remind me to ask Ayumu if the blankets gave him nightmares." Despite really wanting to just stay down and pass out, the redhead forced himself to sit up. He wanted to change. The clothes he was wearing, though clean and mended from the gunshot, weren't really _his_ anymore, and he didn't want them. And his injuries needed a last looking over, anyway. Besides, his clothes were _wet_!

"If they did, I certainly didn't notice, but with that color, it's entirely possible." Eyes watched the other boy for a moment before going to the bathroom next door to get the first aid kit and a bowl of warm water with a cloth. He trusted that Kousuke would get his own change of clothes, so he'd take care of the rest.

Kousuke silently blessed Eyes for understanding him so well without anything being said. He dragged himself to his dresser and dug through it, promising himself (again) that one of these days, he really _would_ go through the thing and actually organize it. Really. And if the Fates truly believed that, he had some wonderful lakeside property in the Sahara to sell them.

Since he knew the next few days would be nothing but bed rest, he settled for just grabbing the shirt he usually slept in, an overlarge dark green linen shirt with long sleeves gathered at the cuffs. Belted, it doubled as a formal and quite nice tunic, but since the only way that Kousuke and 'formal' were ever going to meet was at gunpoint, it was best as comfortable sleepwear.

Eyes brought the water and kit in with him, nodding for Kousuke to sit back down on the bed again. When he did, the silver-haired boy sat with him, balancing the bowl in his lap. He dipped the cloth in and squeezed it before touching it to Kousuke's face. The water was warm, and Eyes's touch was gentle.

Kousuke couldn't help it. After an entire week of terror and pain, the warmth and kindness was a little too much for his overtaxed nerves. Much to the redhead's personal horror, he started crying and couldn't stop.

Eyes's chest tightened in an almost panic for a brief moment. He knew he wasn't good with emotions, not just with his own, but in dealing with others'. Regardless, he knew not to leave Kousuke uncomforted, and no matter how difficult it was for him, he'd soothe the other Blade Child in any way he could. He dropped the cloth back into the bowl, putting it on the floor before dragging Kousuke once more into his arms. He couldn't remember ever holding someone like this so much. But for some reason, it felt right.

"Gomen," Kousuke sobbed, burying his face in the other boy's shoulder. He knew this sort of thing made Eyes uncomfortable, and he hated that he'd lost control of himself so thoroughly. But the events of the week were bearing down on him, and all he could do now was cry to release the tension.

Eyes didn't care about himself at the moment. Even if the situation made him uncomfortable, it was something he would deal with anyway. "Shhh..." he whispered to keep Kousuke from apologizing. It wasn't his fault, and Eyes knew that. A little awkwardly at first, he reached up to gently stroke the wild strands of crimson hair.

The feel of that touch was soothing, and Kousuke's tears began to subside. He wondered absently if his sudden weakness to such things was in any way related to being part cat, but didn't bother to question it any further than that. No one had bothered to hold him like this since his mother died, and the fact that it was Eyes doing this for him just made it that much more meaningful. He started purring again.

This time, instead of startled or worried, Eyes was relieved to hear that sound. He continued the petting until Kousuke was only doing that, and there were no tears. He knew now that he hated the thought of the redhead being that upset, and he would try and make sure it didn't happen often.

Kousuke finally took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled away from Eyes's shoulder, but not yet out of his arms. "I'm okay," he murmured, trying to convince himself of that fact more than Eyes. However, the blatantly suspicious glare he got from the silver-haired boy made him flush and give a little embarrassed grin. "Okay, so I'm not. But I _will_ be."

"I know better than to ask for a promise, but I'm going to make sure you're not lying." Eyes only let go with one hand, bending a little to pick up the cloth again, this time to wipe at the tear tracks.

"Probably by confining me to bed until I'm so stir crazy that I'm climbing the curtains of this room. Which, I might add, don't exist." Kousuke teased.

"You never know." Eyes finished with his face and then gave a nod towards Kousuke's shoulder. "Now let me have a look at your wound."

Kousuke nodded and started struggling with his jacket and shirt. He knew better than to argue with Eyes. First of all, it would be damn awkward to check his own shoulder properly, and second, refusing would just start a struggle that he would most definitely lose, and Kousuke wanted to keep at least a _little_ of his dignity. However, it was lost anyway when he found he couldn't get his black shirt off because his shoulder hurt too much to raise his arm beyond a certain level. "Well, shit," he sighed. He had a sinking suspicion that he might have reopened the healing wound in the struggle with Ayumu, if it hurt this much.

"Just hold still," Eyes instructed quietly, helping Kousuke to get the shirt off that he had trouble with. He winced at the reddened bandage over the gunshot wound.

Aside from the bandage, Kousuke's body was not pretty to look at, either. Besides being too pale, the insides of his arms were covered in needle tracks from countless IVs and injections, and there were bruises and even mild burns where wires and sensors had been hooked up. And to top it all off, there was the dramatic weight loss that came with lack of real food, making his ribs stand out just enough to be worrying, though not yet enough to make him look truly emaciated.

Silver brows furrowed, and he let his gaze move once slowly up and down Kousuke's body. Somewhere deep down, he could feel a quietly suppressed rage. No one had the right to do this to him. No one. For not the first time, he wished that he had been the one to kill the Hunter. He passed that thought by, first using the cloth to wipe down the rest of Kousuke's upper body, sharing that gentleness as he'd done at first.

Kousuke began to purr again, liking the feel of that warm cloth against his chilled skin. He reached up with his good hand to start tearing off the bandages around his shoulder, glad that keeping it properly tended had been on the Hunter's agenda, even if it had been for nasty reasons.

Eyes wanted to stop him, but he didn't, letting Kousuke do what he felt was needed. When the bandages were gone, Eyes cleaned that next. "It's not so bad."

Kousuke winced a little at the sting of the cloth against injured flesh, but nodded. "Yeah. It's actually healing pretty well, all things considered." When Eyes was done, the redhead reached up and caught the Brit's pale hand in his own, lifting it to his lips before meeting that sapphire gaze. "Eyes, I...I just want you to know how much I appreciate you being here. It means a lot to me. Especially after I've gone and caused so much chaos for you."

Eyes shook his head, the mane of silver fluttering around his still features. "Everything that we've been through, Kousuke, means a lot. The chaos was always there, so don't blame yourself." For once, he felt at a loss for the right thing to say, coy or otherwise. He knew that there was a deeper level of commitment between the two of them, but saying it in words wasn't coming out right.

Kousuke just smiled softly, rubbing his cheek in a catlike fashion over the hand he held. "You know, it's strange..." he murmured softly, "While I was trapped with the Hunter, the emotions of the other people were all so loud and almost painfully clear. Even with Rio and Ayumu, it was almost like reading a book or looking at a picture. But your emotions are so much quieter, with the way you hide them so deeply. I barely sense them as emotions at all. But...they're so _warm_, Eyes. You, and sometimes Ayumu, you feel so incredibly warm to me. And that, more than anything else, tells me that you care, even if you can't say it yet. I wonder...would I feel that warm to you?"

Eyes thought about that for a long moment. He had a feeling that Kousuke being able to feel emotions had much to do with Ayumu being able to tell which was the real thing and which was the program. So much needed explaining...but not now. For a brief moment, Eyes let the tiniest smile tug at his lips. "You already do," he whispered.

Kousuke's smile widened just a hair, his green-gold eyes warming. He wanted, at that moment, to tell Eyes just how much he cared, how afraid he'd been that he would lose him, how devastating the thought of the other never trusting him again was. He wanted to tell him that he thought he was falling in love with him. Real love, and not the shared need for comfort and companionship. But he couldn't quite bring himself to speak those words. He wasn't ready to trust Eyes with so much of himself, and he wasn't even sure Eyes was ready to bear that trust. Even if they both had been ready, love was not something a Blade Child admitted to easily, in a world where things that were loved could easily be targeted by enemies. So he would wait a little longer, to make sure that when he did confess, nothing would shatter from the strain of too much truth.

It had been the best that Eyes could do. He had no words for the way he felt deep down where he had hidden those feelings. He'd spent too much time forgetting what each emotion was, burning away everything except his own determination to live. Kanone had made it quite apparent that he was marked for life, designated for a fate that he couldn't change. He knew that he needed to live, and that if emotions got in the way, then he would get rid of them as best he could. Teaching himself not to feel, not to cry, not to know rage...it had helped keep him calm and collected all this time, and he was still alive. But until he'd discovered the other Blade Children -- Rio...Kousuke...and even Ryoko -- it had been a road he'd traveled alone. Even when he wasn't alone, he remained separated from his little group, leading them from behind his cold mask. Kousuke was beginning to change that, and he suspected that the longer the younger Narumi was around them, things would change even more. Still...he couldn't bring himself to give up any more, not right this minute. So he settled for being this close to Kousuke, letting the other hold his hand, lean against him. It was the best he could do.

The moment was broken as Kousuke suddenly let out a jaw-cracking yawn. He grimaced in mild embarrassment and let go of Eyes's hand so that he could pick up the green tunic he had set aside. "I guess that's the body's way of saying it's time for bed." he murmured, trying to wrestle the garment on with just one arm.

Eyes stopped him once more, batting the redhead's hands away and helping him on with the shirt. "There." He gently brushed his fingers along Kousuke's cheek affectionately. "You should get some rest."

Kousuke leaned into the caress, his eyes slitting like a happy cat's. "Can I have a favor?" he asked softly, looking up at that pale expressionless face. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to see Eyes give a full smile, and his imagination could only supply the empty word 'beautiful'.

"What's that?" Eyes asked, wondering what Kousuke needed. He was quite sure he'd do just about anything now.

Surprisingly, Kousuke blushed and looked away, focusing his gaze on his knees as he squirmed out of the rest of his clothing under the nightshirt. "Could you...stay with me? Just until I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone just now..."

The tiniest of smiles tugged on Eyes's pale lips, as if those words were an invitation he'd secretly been waiting for. "Yes." He stood up to take the supplies back to the bathroom, and he picked up Kousuke's discarded clothes as well. "I will stay."

Kousuke relaxed and looked relieved, as if he hadn't been expecting the other boy to agree. And in truth, he hadn't. Eyes was usually such a private person, and Kousuke was unsure sometimes about just how much he could ask for without infringing on those personal boundaries. "I'm glad," he whispered, moving under the covers and snuggling a little into the horrible orange blankets, "Even my nightmares are afraid to cross the Great and Powerful Eyes Rutherford."

This time, the young man rolled his eyes. "Don't make me sound like that..."

Kousuke snickered."But it suits you! It reminds me of that one American movie I saw once, the Wizard of Oz. You'd make a pretty cool wizard."

"How do you figure?" Eyes asked, wrinkling his nose.

The redhead yawned and smiled dreamily. "It's just the image of you flinging spells around, I guess. Really dramatic and all that stuff. And you already have that really powerful personality that makes you seem taller than you are. Besides, the original Wizard of Oz suckered the whole of Emerald City. You strike me as the kind of guy who could sucker a city, if he wanted."

Eyes shook his head and turned down the bed for Kousuke, waiting for him to settle in before covering him with the frightening orange blankets. "Only if I wanted. But who wants a city that can be suckered, mm?"

"Um...someone who wants an endless supply of brainless minions to carry out his Evil Biddings?" The capital letters were clearly audible, even though Kousuke's voice was getting more vague and dreamy as exhaustion began to catch up to him.

Eyes stretched out next to Kousuke, wrapping an arm casually around the redhead's waist. "Useless. I want to live, Kousuke. I want to live life...like I should. That's what I need."

The redhead smiled, one hand moving to rest over Eyes's arm, marveling at the cool silky feel of his skin. "You will. We'll make sure of it, me an' Rio an' even Ayumu, even if I have t' _sit_ on the little baka an'...an'...I dunno what I'd do. Maybe tickle 'im. He looks like someone who's ticklish. Bet he laughs reeeaaal cute, too..."

"I'll bet he is ticklish, but there's only one way to find out, and we can get to that when you've rested." Eyes wondered if Kousuke was right. What was it like to hear Ayumu laugh?

Kousuke nodded a little, blinking his eyes in a way that made him look like a sleepy child. "Mmm-hmmm. And then, after I complete that impossible job, I'm gonna set out on another, and find out a way to make _you_ laugh. I like it when people laugh...means they're not cryin'." He yawned again, curling up a little against the silver-haired boy. "_Never_ wanna see you cryin'."

"You'll never have to worry about that," Eyes reassured him. After this long, it was likely an impossible task to get him to cry. He was too well trained.

Kousuke's brow wrinkled slightly, as if he wanted to argue, but he was rapidly losing the battle against sleep. "Hmph...sez you. But you don't cry with y'r face. You cry with y'r heart. Inside. Don't wanna see _that_, either. So I'll learn to make y'r heart laugh, so it's not cryin'. I'll learn..." And with that last proclamation, the redhead was dead to the world.

Eyes let his head fall back to the pillows, staring at the ceiling. _You can't be so close to the truth. Was I that obvious, or are you already that close to me?_ Both were hard to believe, but possible. He didn't want to think about what that meant, except that he had to hold on to Kousuke tighter than ever.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 6/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Author's Notes: Here come more Blade Children!

OOO

Rio walked beside Ayumu, eyes and ears trained down the dark empty hallways for any sign of life or opposition. The fact that there had been none so far made her wary. The Hunter couldn't have done what she did alone, and Ayumu had spoken of assistants, if not fellow Hunters. So where were they? And speaking of Ayumu... 

"Okay, spill it, Little Narumi. How did you know that something was really wrong with Kousuke? You said he told you there were other Blade Children here, but I didn't hear anything but declarations of betrayal."

"Those declarations of betrayal, as you call them, were nothing more than a mere program," Ayumu said, gripping the hilt of Eyes's katana firmly. He'd picked it up from the floor of the roof before they'd re-entered the building. Even if he didn't know how to use it properly, it was still better than being completely defenseless. "From what I can tell of this place, beyond the ill repair and small holding cells they've got, it's an experimentation facility. The look of Kousuke suggested that they may have conducted several tests on him. One of those tests was to overwrite Kousuke's real personality and ambition with a fake one. As for how I heard the real one beneath, that I'm still not sure of yet."

Rio thought about that, and shuddered. "Too close…that's _way_ too close to the Fate…" she whispered. It gave her chills, just thinking that a Hunter had found a way to artificially induce the state of killing dolls in one of their kind. And if that information was somehow passed to other Hunters… It was not to be thought of. No wonder Kousuke insisted that all records be destroyed. And Rio would do that, but she intended to get a copy of the logs to take back to Eyes, as well. It was best to know exactly what the Hunter had discovered, so that they could guard against it in the future. Next time, they might not be so lucky as to get back the programmed person alive.

"Fate?" Ayumu had been hearing about Fate and Destiny since he'd met the Blade Children – hell, since Kiyotaka had disappeared. "I suppose you're going to say that I have to wait for Rutherford to tell me what that is, aren't you?" It was frustrating. More and more, it was becoming apparent that they expected him to play a key role, but it was like being thrown into a production without being handed a script and the director was away on vacation. How was he supposed to know what to do? How was logic and reasoning supposed to help him if he had no idea what he was up against?

The gray-haired girl looked up at him, her eyes grave. "I'm afraid so. But he'll probably tell you soon, with the way the last week has unfolded. For now, we should focus on the matters at hand. So is Kousuke still…connected? What exactly is that like, anyway?"

Ayumu thought about that for a moment before answering. What was it like? He felt like he'd been straining, as if his hands were actually reaching out for the other boy. He'd felt…despair when the puppet had been talking, a voice that sounded like Kousuke, but separate, deeper. "I suppose it's like when you hear a high-pitched sound, and you feel it in the back of your head just as much as you hear it with your ears. Only this was more like just the feeling of it in the back of my head. What I was hearing with my ears were the lies of the programming. And then…when I actually felt like I was grasping the real Kousuke, we were…somewhere quiet and I saw something that looked like red light. Did I…pass out?"

"Sort of. You seemed to be in some sort of trance state. The Hunter tried to make a grab for you then, but I stopped her. So…can you still feel him in your mind? Are you connected to Kousuke now?"

"Vaguely… that feeling is still in the back of my head. I think if I wanted to, I could reach out to him again." Ayumu pondered that. If he could reach out for the redhead and take hold the way he had done before, did that mean that Kousuke could reach him too? Was that really safe? He frowned.

"So you have a link to Kousuke, 24/7?" She thought about this, about how Kousuke acted and thought, both on his good and bad days. About all his little quirks, eccentricities, and hidden insecurities. "Are the gods you believe in mad at you for something?"

"You know, I was wondering that myself. If I were a true believer in some god, I'd be building an altar right about now." Amber eyes scanned the areas they walked through. It was so quiet…

"AND STAY DOWN THIS TIME!" a voice screamed from one of the rooms down the hall. "Believe me, the last thing you want is for me to get REALLY pissed off!" It was a girl's voice, a little deeper than Hiyono's, a bit less shrill. She sounded like she meant business, especially when her words were accompanied by a rather solid-sounding thud.

Rio raised an eyebrow, and ran to the sound of the yelling. It seemed that they'd just found their first target. "For your information, Little Narumi," she said as she passed the brunette, "Kousuke is not-so-secretly obsessed with international music. And it gets stuck in his head. A _lot_."

"Great," Ayumu muttered under his breath, taking off after Rio.

What they found at the end of the hall was a rather dazed pile of bodies, some that Ayumu recognized as the guards who'd been in charge when he and Kousuke were imprisoned. Standing over them was a much-disheveled young woman, panting and glaring over them with her hands clenched into fists. Long, wavy black hair was haphazardly tied back from her face with a torn scrap of fabric, and her jeans and shirt looked a little scuffed. Her head snapped up at their arrival, and the eyes that fixed on them were violet… with a very distinct slit to the pupils.

"C'mon! How many more of you bastards ARE there?!"

"Not that many, thanks to you. I was wondering why we weren't meeting any opposition, even though I'd just gotten rid of their superior." Rio replied, looking up to meet those violet cat's eyes with her own dawn-gray ones. "I'm Takeuchi Rio. We're _supposed_ to be rescuing you, but I guess you moved without us."

"Damn right I did. Do you know what that woman was planning to do to me?! And using such stupid guards as this to try and keep me hostage! The nerve!" She looked quickly around the room, making sure one last time that everyone was down before relaxing her stance a little and putting her hands on her hips. She blew a stray curl out of her face and looked them up and down, recognizing Rio's eyes much like her own were recognized. "Riku Sorashima. Were you captives here too?" Riku was looking at Ayumu as if she didn't know what to make of him for a moment. After all, he was human. 

"I was for a little while, but let's just say that you and I had something in common about wanting to get out of here as soon as possible," the Ayumu replied. "Are you injured?"

"Not really. A little bruised, but that won't last long. "Who are you? You aren't one of us."

"No, he was taken here as a hostage." Rio replied. "This is Narumi Ayumu. The Hunter took him to ensure the good behavior of another of us, Asazuki Kousuke. We just got him out, and he asked us to get you and whoever else is in here, and to erase the Hunter's findings."

"The other one would be Jhette. We might have a little bit more trouble getting him out than just walking out." She sighed quietly, and then shook her head, fixing her gaze on Ayumu again. "I should know the name 'Narumi'…"

Ayumu rolled his eyes, his expression very long-suffering. "Yes, you should. I'm the less-than-comparable little brother. Let's save that tired exchange for after we've gotten out of here, okay?"

Rio wanted to kick him for that last statement, but restrained herself. This wasn't the time. "Which is closer, the place where the data is kept, or Jhette-san?" she asked Riku instead.

Riku shook her head. "Last time I saw the pathetic excuse for lackeys, they were carrying boxes and files to the hangar where Jhette is. They're probably trying to get the records out of here."

"Why are they keeping a Blade Child in a hangar?" Rio wondered, then shook her head. "Never mind. Can you lead us there? We need to catch them before they escape with that information. I wouldn't put it past that Hunter to have given Kousuke some booby traps, just in case of failure. We need to look at those records."

"Got it! And about Jhette…well…I'll explain when we've beaten up the rest of those jerks. C'mon!" With that, she started running towards the back end of the building, where she'd been shown the hangar only once. She only hoped they weren't too late, listening for the sound of any engines, because the way they would be getting out would certainly make a lot of noise.

They got to the hangar to see a sight of panic and chaos. The lackeys were running around like a nest of disturbed ants, piling files of both paper and visual into a sleek dark green jet. To one side stood a boy of about their age, but he looked odd…like an old photograph that had been left out in the rain, and the color had washed out. He was thin, and wore only a plain white t-shirt that was too big for him and a pair of worn pants. His feet were bare, his skin pale. Light brown hair was cut to jaw-length around his thin face, and cat-slit eyes of the same color watched the commotion with an odd faded sort of confusion or puzzlement. He made no move to stop or fight the people around him, and the people acted as if he wasn't there.

Ayumu was wondering just how he was supposed to use the sword to stop the lackeys, but found out that he really didn't have to worry about it. Riku was already about five steps ahead of him, plowing through the hapless men like an unexpected whirlwind. They yelled and scattered, but few missed her notice and those that did, the younger Narumi was able to trip one or smack them with the flat of the blade he held. His keen eyes were on the boy in the corner quite quickly, however, and he took hold of Rio's sleeve.

"Hey…do you see that?" he asked, pointing.

Rio nodded, her brows furrowing. "Why isn't he doing anything? If he's one of us, he shouldn't just be sitting there, looking confused. He should be trying to strike back or escape." Letting Riku deal with the rest of the lackeys—or, more accurately, deciding not to interrupt her—she slowly approached the second Blade Child. "Anou…are you okay?"

The boy looked at her, his face curiously still as he did so. It wasn't the 'I'll be emotionless or die trying' sort of stillness that Eyes managed, but more the complete absence of anything but the most obvious facial movements. His eyes gazed at her for a long moment, and Rio noticed with an inward shiver that the slit pupils never widened or narrowed. It was just a slit of black amidst the brown. And then he spoke. "Voice and facial identification not found. User unknown. Please identify." The voice was soft and breathy, a light male soprano, but the tone was that of a computer.

"What the-?" Ayumu had heard the words, and they were nothing natural that would come out of a normal human being. Computer… It all felt like…a machine. He answered before Rio could. "User identification, Narumi Ayumu." It was worth a shot. After all, if he turned out to be under the same influence Kousuke was, he had the distinct impression that he wouldn't attack by physical force.

"Processing user: Narumi Ayumu," that mechanical voice spoke, sounding even more like a computer for using the exact tonalities that Ayumu had used on his name, as if he was merely playing back a recording. His eyes closed for a moment, then opened. "File name: Narumi Ayumu. Subject is desired for mental experimentation to attempt duplication of skills, in the hopes of creating living weapons to destroy the Blade Children. Once experimentation is complete, terminate. Narumi Ayumu is not authorized to make use of subject Jhette's functions."

"What _is_ this…?" Rio whispered, feeling mildly freaked out by this strange boy.

Ayumu wasn't feeling all that comforted by the 'boy's' words himself. He took a step back from it, already having had enough with people that were out to 'terminate' him. While they were busying themselves with trying to figure out what was before them, Riku had stopped any of the escaping lackeys from succeeding in getting away. She dusted her hands off with a triumphant, "Hmph!" and headed over to them.

"Jhette!" she called out, seeing the way that Narumi had backed off. "User login. Riku Sorashima. Access alternate profile login. Username: Samantha Gray. Password: Crucifixion."

"Processing user: Riku Sorashima, alternate profile, Samantha Gray." There was another long pause as those washed-out eyes closed, processing the information. Then they opened again. "Password accepted. Basic personality functions reactivated." There was no outward sign of any change, but the strange boy suddenly gazed at Riku and gave a tiny smile. "Hello, Riku. I see you have made good on your promise of chaos, panic and disorder. Is your work here done?"

He shifted a little, changing his stature from ramrod straight to just the slightest slouch of the shoulders. As his arm moved, it brushed against, then _straight through_ Ayumu's.

The teen couldn't help but let out a yelp of surprise, stepping back even more. He was highly unnerved by this Blade Child, and he didn't see any point in masking it at all. He moved as close to Rio as he could get without touching her or looking like he was hiding behind her. His expression was wary, as it probably should have been.

"It will be once we actually leave," Riku said with a grin. She seemed very proud of what she'd done here. Her eyes turned to the jet. "However….getting you out of here might be a little difficult."

Jhette gave a shrug in acknowledgement before turning to look at Ayumu. "Forgive me. The form you see here is a hologram, not my real body. I am unsure as of yet what the proper parameters are for the image, as it is based on my personality, which was until recently turned off so that Hunter Samantha's associates could load me for takeoff."

"Hold on a second here…" Ayumu held up his hand, a genuinely confused look on his face. Reprogramming, he could understand. He'd just seen what it could do to Kousuke. But the hologram…and the implications that Jhette was actually the _jet_ was a little beyond his comprehension. "You mean to tell me that you're really…_that_?" He pointed to the aircraft that sat waiting to take the records somewhere else.

"You could say that," Riku answered with a shrug. She didn't seem surprised, though if she knew where to find the other Blade Child, she likely knew at least a little of what to expect.

"Correct." Jhette replied. "When I was brought here, Hunter Samantha fused my body into the jet as one of her experiments on my abilities. Now, my physical form remains in suspended animation, and my mind is installed in the circuitry of the machine itself. So long as the program made from my brainwaves is inserted into the security or operating system of any area, I can use the hologram to interact, and the entire place under my programming can become my weapon. Hunter Samantha has put up several defense systems of her own, so that my program cannot move freely to cause her or others harm. I may only respond with force under her command, and Riku's when she is using Hunter Samantha's account."

"It's not very likely that we can fly this thing home," Ayumu said, looking over the size of it. "What are we going to do? If Jhette-san can indeed move within other forms of circuitry, that's fine. But it's not like we can either take this with us _or _leave it here."

Riku looked at a loss. "You're right. Going back into the city, there isn't anyplace even remotely close to being large enough to land in. And where else could we stash something this size. Any suggestions, Jhette?" she asked the other. "_Possible_ suggestions?"

"Affirmative, Riku. If you would remove the items already loaded into my hull, I will change the outer form to that of a land vehicle. Trucks are not nearly so difficult to hide in a city, and I am not especially large."

Rio gaped at him before gritting her teeth in anger at the Hunter who had done this. "I should have made her suffer more…"

Riku gave a mock-salute and grinned. "Roger that. Narumi, want to give me a hand?"

"Uh…sure…" Ayumu blinked at the image a few more times, then went to help the girl start taking files out.

Rio also joined in to help, but couldn't help but read some of the files in her hands. Ironically, the ones she had turned out to be Kousuke's, and by the time she was done with just the first page, she was shaking in anger. There were photographs with the file, and that only made it worse. There were even thin panels that turned out to be portable vid files, but she was too afraid she'd break something if she looked. 

Ayumu noticed her distraction and he came over, gently moving her hands to close the file. "He's going to be all right now," he assured her. 

Rio looked up at him, her eyes stormy as she handed him the file for him to look through. "Will he? No, not completely. Not for a very long while. He would never admit it, Little Narumi, but Kousuke has a fragile heart under that annoyingly brash exterior. And they hurt him here." 

He knew that. He knew that even by the little time they'd spent together at that place in the back of their minds. While they hadn't tread into each other's business anymore than they had to, Ayumu still knew from Kousuke's inner voice that even remotely speaking betrayal to Eyes had hurt, and that didn't even touch the physical damage.

The photos Rio had left the file open to didn't help matters. They were horribly graphic things, showing how badly the redhead had suffered. Rio turned away to move other files, looking sad. "Kousuke...is going to be afraid now. He won't show it, probably not even fully to Eyes, but he'll be afraid. Our trust means a lot to him, and now he'll question that for who knows how long."

Ayumu found that a little hard to believe, at least on some levels. "But...you and Rutherford will still trust him, won't you? He might be afraid, but as long as you don't turn your back on him, that fear will have nothing to feed off of." 

"Of course not!" Rio snapped, then forcefully calmed herself down. "But...Little Narumi, you have to understand that not everything is rational or logical. That goes double for the mindset of a torture victim. Especially one as emotional as Kousuke. So at least for a while, there's going to be this horrible little voice at the back of his mind, constantly wondering if we truly still trust him, or if we're just lying so that we can keep a careful eye on him. I know, because I saw it happen before, at the hands of a Savior." 

The brunette stared at her quietly. He wanted to react to her temper, feeling just as on edge as she was. Half of it was from seeing what the Hunter had done, the other half of it was because he didn't know everything that she was talking about. The lack of information was really starting to get to him. But as she had, he maintained his calm, taking a deep breath before he replied. He couldn't say that he understood exactly what Kousuke would be thinking, but he did know that he'd be a little more wary of any kind of gun after coming so close to death only a week ago. It was like a very bad fall...sometimes, you wondered if you ever wanted to get back up again. "Sorry. I can only go with what I know." He grabbed the last set of files from the aircraft, peering inside to make sure it was empty. 

Rio nodded. "And I'm sorry for snapping. I'm just worried. Worried and angry at a dead woman, and likely to get angrier as I read over all this stuff with Eyes. Jhette-san," she said, turning to the other boy, who had quietly observed the whole thing, "how many other Blade Children did the Hunter have here?" If there were still others in the compound... 

Jhette tilted his head slightly. "Records state that Hunter Samantha has had in this compound sixteen Blade Children up to date, including newest acquisitions, Riku Sorashima and Asazuki Kousuke. Fourteen are currently deceased, three terminated for resisting in transit, seven from experiment-related complications, three terminated after testing was complete, and one made not real and pressed into service." 

Ayumu may not have liked the Blade Children or some of their ways, but their deaths here... It hadn't been necessary. It brought home the reality that Eyes and Kousuke had been right. Kill or be killed, and it seemed that the death wasn't even a merciful one. His fist clenched at his side, and he could only be thankful that Kousuke wasn't one of those deceased statistics. As much as Asazuki annoyed him, that was no reason to wish anything like this one him. Ayumu could easily guess who the last one was. 

Riku shook her head. "Wish I'd killed that bitch." 

Rio let out a soft growl, kicking at one of the boxes of files. "_I_ wish I'd made her suffer more. Three little bullets seem too merciful now." For a few seconds, she wished she had the same skill with knives that Kousuke had. She knew he would have dismembered her piece by piece for all this, slowly and painfully. 

Ayumu took one look at the angry young woman and shook his head. On some levels, he was very glad that she hadn't had anything other than the gun. He didn't think he'd be able to watch, but probably would have been too caught up to look away. He shuddered and turned to Jhette. "Well, now what...?" 

Jhette simply shrugged and pointed to the jet that was his real body. Now that it was empty, it was already changing. It was a fascinating, if rather odd sight. Wires and metal components disengaged and rearranged themselves seemingly on their own, even the engine coming apart to reassemble itself into something with a power level more suited to ground than air. Everything moved around a central point, but that point itself was obscured by all the floating debris. It was, however, the exact size of a smallish teenager. 

"Forgive me for not displaying my Core," Jhette said in that breathy computerized voice, "but the original body is...not pretty. And all of you are already in states of distress." 

"That's one word for it," Ayumu whispered, his eyes wide as he watched the transformation. 

Riku shook her head, a seemingly irrepressible smile on her face. "It's all right, Jhette. The Hope of the Blade Children isn't going to judge you here." 

That caught Ayumu's attention. His amber eyes drifted over to her, and he was met with that smile, but given no explanation. 

Jhette slowly blinked. "Title 'hope of Blade Children' not found. All related information classified under Hunter code number 46275. Determined of no relevance for Child that does not exist." 

"Relevance to be discovered once the system receives updated information," Riku replied with a wink. "All aboard! Anyone know where we're headed?" 

Rio gave her the address of the building where they were all staying. "Eyes prefers we stay together, since there's so few of us right now." Before she got in the truck, she made a point of reloading all the files. She wasn't kidding about taking them to Eyes for review. She wanted to be doubly sure that there were no other problems to expect for Kousuke. "Jhette-san, does this place have a self-destruct program?" 

"Affirmative. I can activate it from a maximum distance of one mile." 

"Great. I want this place off the map." 

"Request unclear. Geography has little to do with explosives. Please clarify." 

"Oh, for the love of..." 

Riku waved her hand to quiet Rio. "As with every person, the way you talk affects what they can understand. Jhette, accessing facility self-destruct functions. Eliminate target location in five minutes. Repeat: Access facility self-destruct functions. Eliminate target location in five minutes." She climbed into the truck, settling herself into the driver's seat. 

The hologram nodded and vanished, but the voice still came from a small speaker on the dashboard. "Acknowledged. And for the record, I am _not_ letting you drive." 

"Aww, c'mon, Jhette! I have a permit! I haven't broken any traffic violations yet!" 

"Negative. To use something from my slang dictionary, you are psycho. Remove hands from the steering wheel. I will drive myself." 

Rio didn't know if it was really all _that_ funny, but with all of the tension of the day, she couldn't help but let it out in a burst of giggles. 

Riku huffed and flopped back in her seat, arms crossed. By that point, Ayumu was settled into the back with the files. He leaned his head back, somewhat distanced from the banter. He was slipping into the mindset of only wanting to go home and end this horribly long week. 

Rio glanced over at him and thought of something. "Ne, Little Narumi? If you like, we can drop you off near your home, but...do you want to stay one more night with us?" 

The thought of going home was tempting. Very tempting. But he wanted to make sure that Kousuke was all right, see everyone where they should be before he went to where he should be. Besides, it would be easier to sneak in if Madoka was already at work. He wasn't in the mood to get nagged by her now. It only recently occurred to him that he hadn't been home in a little over a week, and with his luck, she probably had every cop in the city looking for him. The lecture was _not _going to be pleasant, and he would have preferred to have a good night's sleep under his belt first. "I'm coming with you."

Rio nodded, hiding a small smile behind her hand. She would get Ayumu together with the other two yet. Now if her luck just held out and Riku-san would be willing to help. She hoped that the girl didn't end up taking one look at Eyes or Kousuke and going into 'drooling fangirl' mode. That would be _bad_. 

Ayumu laid his head against the glass window, holding Kousuke's folder in his lap. He'd seen enough from when Rio had looked, and he couldn't help but be as angry as she was. But his anger was dulled by his exhaustion. He'd insisted on getting to the complex as soon as he was able so that they could get Kousuke out as soon as possible. He was tired. 

The trip back was fairly quick. Once Jhette had the address, it seemed he had no real need of directions. When asked, he explained that one of his various programs was a satellite global positioning system, so he always knew where he had to go. And true to his word, he did not drive himself like a psycho. 

Riku was almost disappointed, but she got over it as soon as she saw where they'd ended up. "Damn...that building is huge... you live here, Rio-san?" She stared up at the multi-story building and the glass tower. 

Rio shrugged. "Sort of. The building actually belongs to Eyes, but he has us stay there for safety. Since neither Kousuke or I have parents, it doesn't really matter to us where we stay." _Well, except that lately Kousuke probably would refuse to stay anywhere else...  
_

"I detect a sizable garage under the building. Am I cleared for entry?" Jhette asked, already driving towards the driveway, already knowing the answer. 

"Hai." Rio said. 

"I think staying here is going to be much cooler than the lab!" Riku said excitedly, leaning forward in her seat. "There's a back elevator, right?" 

Rio nodded. "Though honestly, I think the best way to deal with Jhette is to just take his program up to the security room and install him right away. It'll save time. That is, unless...Jhette, did the Hunter add any booby traps to your program to stop someone from installing you in places other than her lab?" 

"Negative. Hunter Samantha moved a lot. Such precautions would have been impractical and decreased productivity by 32.7 percent." 

"Good." Riku slid out of the front seat and reached over Ayumu in the back to get to the files. The young man had dozed off, but immediately snapped to attention when

Riku reached over him. "Rise and shine, sugar." 

"Mmm? Sorry...I'm awake." Ayumu slid out, stacking some more files on top of Kousuke's. 

Rio smiled and turned back to the dashboard. "Can you give me something I can use to download you into our system?" 

"Affirmative. Please stand by." There was a whirring sound, and then a small disc popped out of a slit near Rio's hand. "Insert that into your main security systems. I will change it to suit." 

"Right." Rio said, and climbed out of the car. She led everyone over to the elevator, and herded them in. Except for the quick stop at the security room to enable Jhette's image to walk beside them, they went straight to the penthouse, where the bedrooms were. 

"It figures that you all would be in the penthouse. You're led by Eyes Rutherford, aren't you? I'm sure he has the money for such a place, easy." Riku stared out at the city as it slipped away beneath them. 

Jhette watched the panorama of the city with an odd expression. On a living face, it might have been longing. "I hope there are more windows here than in the hangar." 

"The entire top floor is mostly windows from what I remember," Ayumu said, yawning. "You'll be able to see a lot." 

Jhette nodded, not taking his eyes from the scene outside the elevator. "Ah. Yokatta." 

Rio gazed at him sadly. "You liked the outdoors before the Hunter got you, huh?" 

Jhette paused, his expression going still. "Information classified. Memory data of subject Jhette sealed until proper measures for complete erasure can be found." 

Rio shuddered and thought again that she should have made that woman suffer more. 

"Hey Rio..." Ayumu murmured as the elevator reached the top floor. "Is Rutherford going to be okay with all two more strangers?" 

Rio shrugged, stepping out. "He was okay with me and Kousuke, when he first found us. And really, the only one who's going to take up any space is Riku-san. Something tells me Jhette-san doesn't eat or sleep, or even require a room." 

"Correct." Jhette replied. "My program is now in the building, so I may go anywhere and observe anything. But I do not eat or sleep, for I am not a real being." 

Rio raised an eyebrow. "Of course you are. You have a body and a mind." 

"Negative. My body is merely a bit of meat held in suspended animation. My mind is a computer program. According to Hunter Samantha, subject Jhette is not a real person, and has not been since his creation." 

Ayumu himself was beginning to think that the Hunter should have suffered more. He followed Rio into the penthouse with the others in tow, finding the first available table to put the files down on. It was awfully quiet. He glanced around to see if anything looked out of place, but it just seemed that the other two Blade Children might already have been asleep. 

Rio put a finger to her lips to signal silence to the others, just in case. Kousuke, she knew, could sleep through a hurricane, but she wasn't sure about Eyes. If he had also gone to bed, she didn't want to wake him. However, it didn't stop her from going straight for the bright red biohazard sign on Kousuke's door, wanting just as much as Ayumu to make sure the redhead had gotten home safe and was resting. 

The moment she was within view of the doorframe, there was a hurried sound of movement. A flash of blue orbs reflected in the light from the hallway, along with the glint of a knife blade. Eyes had immediately pinned Rio with his gaze, skimming her over once to make sure she wasn't an unwelcome intruder before he lowered his blade. 

_Awww...he was standing guard. How cute!_ "It's just us, Eyes," she whispered, "Little Narumi and I got the two other Blade Children, and just stopped by to see how Kousuke was before getting people settled. Can we come in?"

There was a slight nod, and Eyes slid off the bed, keeping the knife in hand. He was very careful to try not to disturb Kousuke as he padded over to the doorway. 

Kousuke lay half on his side, and at some point had kicked the blankets down to the foot of the bed, the orange fabric still tangled around the lower part of his long slender legs. The soft tunic he was wearing as a sleep shirt draped around his lanky frame, showing off the leanness of his body to perfection. One arm was draped over his narrow waist, and the other was spread out to the side, palm up, as if reaching for a missing companion. The low collar of the tunic gave an inviting view of the narrow but strong chest under it, rising and falling slightly with his breathing. The dark green hue of the fabric made the redhead's skin look like fine porcelain, shining softly in the light from the doorway. His face was tilted towards the door, completely relaxed in deep sleep. He looked softer in sleep, totally open and vulnerable, and more like the seventeen-year-old he really was. 

Ayumu caught himself staring, seeing a different side to Kousuke than the arrogant bastard. It was...strange to behold. 

Eyes gave a look back over his shoulder, checking one last time, then ushered everyone back down the hallway to the main room. 

Rio fell back to nudge Riku slightly. "Quit drooling," she whispered to her, "If he doesn't have 'Property of Eyes' stamped somewhere on his body, it's just from lack of opportunity." Not that Rio was all that unaffected by the sight herself. It was very rarely that she saw the redheaded Blade Child looking quite _that_ edible. And she was secretly hopeful about the reactions it had caused in Ayumu. The look that had crossed his face was promising. 

Riku shook her head, taking in her fill of Eyes as he came into the light as well. She got the message really quick...they were not to be touched, but she was allowed to think they were hot. 

Rio gave a slight chuckle. "The sad part is they really think they're hiding it. Now all I have to do is manage to get Little Narumi past his own obliviousness somehow..." 

"You're trying to get all of them together?" Riku asked in a whisper. 

Rio nodded. "What can I say? I'm a closet yaoi fan with a masochistic liking for hopeless causes. Buuuut, I don't think it's all _that_ hopeless, from the way Little Narumi was staring." She sighed. "I know Kousuke and Eyes are already _very_ interested in him." 

"I thought they were interested because he's the Hope..." Riku looked confused, glancing back at them before going to take a seat on the sofa near the piano. 

"That's how it started, yes," Rio agreed, sitting next to her, "but it's changed a little since then. And of course, true to male behavior, all three are totally oblivious about the full feelings of the others. Kind of sad, really." 

Jhette had heard most of their conversation, but understood little, since most of the relevant reference data was not in the directories open to him. So he moved to the windows to stare outside again, admiring the lights of the city at night. His memory was straining, trying to remember why the name Eyes Rutherford seemed so important to him, even with there being no file in his data banks on him. 

Eyes moved to the piano, where he usually sat no matter who was there. He set the knife on the ledge for the sheet music, casually crossing one leg over the other, his gaze circling the room. Ayumu took a seat in the chair and leaned his head back, still very tired. 

"Well, Rio...give me the abbreviated version." His blue eyes drifted over to the pile of folders on his table. 

Rio's face turned serious as she looked at Eyes. "The Hunter had sixteen of us. Riku-san and Jhette-san are the only survivors, next to Kousuke." 

"Incorrect. Subject Riku Sorashima is the only other survivor. Subject Jhette does not exist, outside a constructed computer system." the brunette Blade Child's mechanical voice responded. 

"We're not getting into this argument again, Jhette-san... Anyway, we got out of there, detonated the whole area, and brought the files on what she did here. It won't be pleasant, but we should probably know her results, just so we know what to guard against in case she was in contact with anyone. I'd rather not see anybody else in Kousuke's position." 

Eyes took a deep breath, his gaze still on the files for a moment before they drifted over to the image of Jhette. His electric blue eyes narrowed as he pondered both the words he'd said and the way he could almost see the setting sunlight through him. "Sixteen..." That was sixteen too many, and he counted his blessings that Kousuke was one of the survivors instead of one of the casualties. "These two," he said, glancing at first Jhette again, then Riku, "they're willing to stand against Fate as well?" 

"I'm really good at being rebellious, Rutherford-san," Riku answered before Rio could. "You'll find no objection from me." 

Jhette was silent for a long moment. "I...only barely remember what the fate of the Blade Children was," he finally admitted. "It's probably with the rest of the classified memory data. But I know I was scared of it, and that my m-mother wanted to fight it...I think..." He shook his head. "Regardless, I know Hunter Samantha was using her results from working with me to try and induce a sort of 'controllable' version of our fate. So I will fight it, just for that. No more should be made into objects." 

Eyes nodded. "For now, your word will have to do." His expression sharpened a little, feeling colder than it usually was. "I don't take traitors lightly, however. Be advised that I will be aware of what goes on in this place." 

Jhette gave something approximating a smile. "So am I. I am currently interfaced with your security system. I will know everything and anything that happens on the premises, and can report it immediately. And unlike a normal operating system, I can make judgment calls. However, if this does not suit, my Core program can be returned to where my actual body is currently sitting in the basement." 

The silver-haired man fixed Rio with an admonishing look. He knew that she had to be the one that had gotten him into the database before she'd come to get him. He would have preferred she asked permission first, but there wasn't much he could do about that now. "No, it should be fine, Jhette. You actually may be of better assistance than the current program. Thank you." 

The hologram nodded, then tilted his head, as if listening to something. "Wiring on third and sixth floors faulty. Lighting at 87 percent. Fixing." 

Rio sighed. "I assume we'll get used to him?" she asked Riku. 

Riku nodded and smiled wistfully. "Yes. I certainly have. He freaked me out at first, but once you understand what's happening and you keep in the back of your mind what was done to him, it gets easier to tolerate." 

Rio nodded and turned back to Eyes. "Have there been any problems with Kousuke? I didn't find anything in his files that would point to any serious lasting damage, but you'd know better than I would." 

"A bit of insecurity, but that's to be expected. Anyone to come out of that place that isn't wary would have me worried more." Eyes lowered his head a little, taking a deep breath. "Other than that, his wound should heal fine, and as long as we keep an eye on him, I don't anticipate any problems." 

Riku held back a smile. "I suppose I shouldn't mention how ironic keeping.. 'eyes' on him sounds?" 

Rio's mind, already in the happy yaoi gutter, promptly gave her images that caused both a blush and a serious case of the giggles. 

Jhette just looked mildly confused until his less-than-worldly programming caught up. "Ah...word play. Such an example will be saved for future reference." 

Eyes sighed and shook his head. "Little Narumi, you decided to stay?" 

Ayumu, who hadn't been a part of the conversation until now, opened his eyes a little again. "Mmm," he said in affirmation. "Last I saw of Asazuki, he'd gone over a five story ledge into some cold water. Needed to make sure I didn't kill the guy." 

Rio looked at the brunette and shrugged. "Something tells me Kousuke would survive just to spite you. If it's okay, Eyes, I think we should get Little Narumi settled somewhere to sleep. He exhausted himself today." She sighed regretfully. "It's a pity, though. If he was in any better condition, I'd be begging him to cook." 

"Maybe breakfast," the brunette said sleepily. 

Eyes got up from his seat at the piano. "He can sleep in my room. I'll be staying with Kousuke, just in case. Riku, you can either bunk with Rio or have the couch." He looked over at Jhette. "I'm assuming I don't have to make any special arrangements for you." 

"I can sleep on the couch..." Ayumu protested weakly, surprised that the offer of having Eyes's room had even come up. 

"Smile and nod, Little Narumi. Eyes is the rich one, so he's got the gorgeous antique four-poster bed with the satin sheets that makes me and just about any other person in the world squirm with envy when we see it. In fact, the only one who didn't was Kousuke." 

Jhette blinked. "Why did Asazuki Kousuke not follow the norm?" 

"He said he didn't want it because it was too big to steal." 

Jhette blinked again. "Real people are illogical things." 

"Yeah, that pretty much sums up Kousuke." 

"No kidding," Ayumu agreed, leaning forward and rubbing his eyes. "If you're really going to insist, then I guess I'll sleep there, but really, I can take the couch." 

"No no! Then I'll have nowhere to sleep!" Riku cried. "And I couldn't _possibly _sleep in the bed of the famous Eyes Rutherford! You simply _must _take the bed!" Never mind that she had no intention whatsoever of taking the couch, unless Rio didn't want her company. But she was banking on the fact that the young woman wouldn't mind, especially if it got Ayumu into Eyes's bed. The musician wouldn't be in there with him, but ...baby steps, after all. 

Rio shot her a look of endless gratitude. It was so _nice_ to have an accomplice! 

Riku winked back when the boys weren't looking. 

"Come then, Little Narumi." He waved his hand towards the hallway as Ayumu rose up from the chair, stifling another yawn. "This way." 

Rio watched them go and gave a wistful little sigh. "So near, and yet so far. I need to start wiring these rooms with cameras so I can watch the cuteness. And no, Jhette, I will not clarify that." 

Jhette rolled his eyes. "No clarification needed. The term 'yaoi fangirl' has already been inputted into my data banks, courtesy of Riku." 

Riku nodded. "I teach him fast." 

Rio smiled. "Oh, good. Then maybe we can get him to help us. But for now, I think we both need sleep. To copy Eyes, come this way."


	7. Chapter 7

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 7/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Just when you think the danger's gone… (You'll hate where this chapter ends, but you'll _love _where the next one begins. )

ooooo

_It was dark, but not cold or frightening where Kousuke was. He was at the state where he knew vaguely that he was asleep, but most of his mind was quiet, just existing in this place of rest. He lay in the patterns of a glowing web of strands made of bright crimson and gentle gold. It was a warm place, and one where the Blade Child felt safe.  
However, as the moments passed by, something seemed awry. Kousuke looked around, wondering what felt wrong in this place of soft rightness, and his green-gold eyes landed on what looked at first like a cloud, several shades blacker than the soft darkness already surrounding them. It came closer, and the warmth of the area began to vanish, sending the first faint prickles of alarm up Kousuke's spine. The light from the strands around him was dimming, and something in him knew that wasn't supposed to happen.  
_

_The dark cloud came closer still, roiling and twisting like the worst of storms, and Kousuke heard a silence so loud that it shrieked with the force of a thousand blood-maddened souls. The features of the cloud were vague, but he could almost make out the faces of suffering children in the folds of black mist. It drew even closer, and the young cat spirit began to tremble in barely understood terror..._

_...and in a moment that was both an eternity and yet no time at all, the dark cloud swamped over Kousuke, cutting off the soft light from the golden and crimson strands, and immersing the redhead in what was both a complete overloading of the senses, yet a complete void at the same time. He tried to scream, and could not breathe as the black mist, tasting of bloodlust and shattered dreams, filled him and made him lose center. It was like drowning again, save that instead of his body, it was his mind and spirit that were sinking into darkness. The cold was so deep that his mind was going numb, and thinking was suddenly impossible. The darkness was so complete that all his eyes could see was blood and suffering. He could feel nothing but the burning numbness of total annihilation. And Kousuke knew he was going to be destroyed..._

Ayumu's exhaustion had helped him drift off to sleep fairly quickly, especially when the warmth and outright lavish comfort of Eyes's bed aided the cause. For awhile, he slept peacefully, but as the night drew on, he grew increasingly more uneasy. It was when the almost realistic grip of a very bad dream took hold of him that he began to toss and turn, trying to get away from that _feeling_. It wasn't something he could explain easily, for it just felt like that sense of impending doom, or that feeling people often spoke of when they thought something bad might happen. For all that he was distanced from it, he couldn't help feeling like he was directly in its path. In his mind, he could feel the storm that was nearly upon him, sending the fragile strands of gold and scarlet quivering. _what is this...?_ He had wondered the same when he could hear Kousuke before. Was that what it was now? Was Kousuke here? He began to reach out just like he'd done before, wondering if he'd find the redhead nearby.

_...then the touch came. It was so light, so ephemeral, and yet at the same time, so strong that it was a spear of light, burning away the darkness as Kousuke reached desperately to match that light touch. The Web flared back into existance around him, and he could breathe, think, _exist_ again.  
_

_The horrible wailing silence of the dark cloud shrieked with the anger of a sociopath losing a chosen victim, and then was burned away completely, leaving the Blade Child shuddering in reaction in the protection of the Web, but still whole._

Kousuke woke up screaming, the place where his rib was missing aching as if on fire.

Immediately, Eyes was awake and enfolding Kousuke in his arms. He didn't know what was going on, but Kousuke's panic touched him somewhere deep down and all he wanted to do was get rid of it as soon as possible. One hand was in the crimson locks, combing through them as the other hand held Kousuke close, protecting him from whatever had scared him. His own heart pounded in his chest, as if the redhead's fear had bled into his own consciousness. 

They weren't alone for long. Ayumu had bolted awake as well the moment the cloud had receded. A cold sweat had broken out on his brow, some of his dark hair sticking to the sides of his face and the back of his neck. It had felt like it had taken every last fibre of his being to reach out to Kousuke and draw him away from the darkness. The strings of the web that had enshrouded them were pulled taut now, the slightest touch againt them reverbating through his consciousness. Not for the first time, he wondered what was going on, but the question had become secondary to whether or not Kousuke was really okay. He fought his way free of the sheets and blankets he'd tangled himself up in, and he ran down the hall to Kousuke's room, leaning into the doorway. 

"Asazuki..." he panted, stumbling inside. "Rutherford, is he...all right?" 

Kousuke had stopped screaming the moment he felt Eyes's arms around him and the warmth of his buried emotions against his heart, but that didn't stop him from trembling like a leaf in the other Blade Child's arms. He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but parts of it, like the feel of the madness and empty hatred of everything that had grated against his empathy, had been very real and not just the phantoms of nightmare. He didn't know why or how, but he knew he had come very close to dying, and it terrified him. Only the Web had saved him. He clutched at Eyes, uncaring of the claws that caught in the other boy's shirt--claws...when had he changed back to nekojin form?--or if Ayumu would think him weak for being so openly frightened and in need of comfort. 

Eyes rocked gently, not knowing the words that would comfort Kousuke. Kanone had always been the one who had an easy way with words, not him. He didn't know what to say. He glanced over at Ayumu, his gaze somewhat distant, as if he couldn't focus on both Kousuke and Ayumu at the same time. "I..think so.." the pianist murmured. "Kousuke..?" 

Ayumu couldn't help but keep walking towards them, his heart still frantic in his chest. Even though he was looking at both of them, knew that both were alive and relatively unharmed, the near-death that he also had felt in the nightmare had him shaken down to the core, and had him close to panicking. 

The redhead felt the mirrored terror from the brunette, and looked up into those frantic golden eyes with his own anxious green-gold. He swallowed hard, trying to calm his own fears somewhat, and shakily freed one arm to reach towards Ayumu, inviting him into the relative security that came with simple physical contact. 

Ayumu wondered if this was still part of the dream or if he was truly awake. All he knew for sure was that he had to reach, just like he'd done before, reach until he took hold. His fingers tangled in with Kousuke's as he sank to his knees on the floor next to the bed.

_What is this?!_ his mind screamed. _Why am I so scared? What have I done to be chased like this...?_

Eyes's breath caught, and he winced, as if he heard a second echo of the fright from Ayumu. He was the only one who had any control over his senses, and how he wished that he could give that control back to the other two. He took a deep breath, trying to reach them both, assure them that it was all right, hoping that they would see that they were awake now. Nothing would reach them so long as he was there. 

Kousuke couldn't quite describe what he felt next. It was a little like a light caress of a warm hand, or perhaps the brush of a bird's wing, or the gentleness of a fox's kiss. Somehow, the last fit best, despite not making any rational sense to the redhead. But it made him relax enough to understand that Ayumu needed help to calm down. He pulled at the hand clasped so tightly in his, dragging the frightened boy onto the narrow bed with them. It was a tight fit, but the warmth of their bodies calmed the nekojin even further, and he reached with his own empathy to join a cat's embrace with the kiss of a fox. He'd worry about making rational sense of it later. 

Eyes felt like he was in a trance, the addition of a third body to the bed dragging him out of it ever so slightly to wonder for a moment if they all would fit. But when no one was in immediate danger of falling, he focused his attention on the younger Narumi. The boy had so much to learn, so much he couldn't say just yet. So he concentrated like Kousuke did to just let their combined presence calm him. It felt...right to keep thinking of calming them, he felt his thoughts might actually be helping. 

Kousuke wrapped as much soothing emotion around Ayumu as he could manage, in his mind seeing the Web they had created together in gold and crimson, stronger now with the renewed contact. He reached for Ayumu there, touching the source of the soft gold that anchored the Web and creating a channel for that unknown feeling that had first calmed him, watching in his own light trance as the kiss of a fox touched to the brush of feathered gold-dust wings. 

Ayumu's wide, distant eyes fluttered closed as he drifted back into that place where he and Kousuke had found each other while the other programming had a hold of the Blade Child's body. He saw the strands of red and gold, just like before. And now, very hesitantly, a weave of light blue was beginning to thread through the other two colours, thickening the web and strengthening it. He felt at peace again, as if the terror didn't have a chance of reaching him again, and his breath left him in a soft sigh.

_Eyes...Eyes is here with us now, too... _Kousuke started to purr. At that moment, the Web felt..._right_. Stable. Like the foundation for something had been completed, and now had the potential to become something much greater. He could feel the strength in those glowing strands now, the three main colors of the artist's wheel, and something in him knew that so long as this stability stayed, the darkness couldn't touch any of them. 

"I'm...not still dreaming...am I...?" Ayumu whispered, his voice almost inaudible because he was afraid of breaking the silence. 

"No, I don't think so." Kousuke replied, his voice just as soft. "Because if it is, and I wake up to a place where I'm not feeling this, I may just say the fuck with dignity and cry. And I'm pretty sure Eyes is getting sick of me crying on him by now." While his tone was light, Ayumu could feel from the Web and their own physical and spiritual closeness that he was being perfectly serious. Later, when they calmed down, they would probably be able to give each other a little distance so as not to go tripping over each other's minds, but for now, the feeling of having others _there_ was a great comfort after the horror of the nightmare. 

"I never said that," Eyes murmured a little guiltily.

Kousuke silently tightened his hug on Eyes, a silent way of saying he wasn't blaming him. He was just trying to lighten things a little to make the younger Narumi brother more comfortable.

"Then...does someone have an explanation of what just happened?" Ayumu didn't want to think about his own terror, the way it was still a very real thing in the back of his mind or how being here with the two of them seemed to ease it. 

Kousuke looked perplexed. "I...dunno. I remember having one heck of a nightmare, and feeling like I was going to die until you reached me. Then the Web kinda went 'POW!' and the darkness ran away. Aaaaaand then I woke up screaming like a bat outta hell." 

"So, you're calling it...the Web..." Ayumu said, looking up at him. 

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Eyes replied, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to remember the flash he'd seen right before Kousuke had woken up. He hadn't had a dream like the rest of them, but he'd briefly seen the multi-coloured strands only moments before he'd heard Kousuke scream. 

"I suppose it does." 

Kousuke shifted, and hissed as it jostled his still-sore chest. Why was the curse mark aching, anyway? "That's it. No more week-long sessions of mental and physical torture before bedtime. It makes for crappy dreams for _everybody_. And a sore chest for me. I feel like a mule kicked me." 

"The mark?" Eyes questioned, looking concerned. Since knowing Kousuke, he hadn't been aware of the curse's mark bothering him at all. Considering how his own liked to ache of its own accord, it worried him that Kousuke felt it. 

Kousuke nodded. "Yeah. It's weird, it's never ached like this before. Ah, well...there's more important things to worry about." He looked at Ayumu again, concern in his eyes. While the jester's mask was back, the arrogance that so infuriated Ayumu had yet to come back, Kousuke unable to summon that particular part of his shell due to the closeness between them. "You feeling any better, Ayumu?" 

The brunette nodded slowly. It was still going to take him a little bit of getting used to with that _feeling _in the back of his head. But the nightmare was over, and he'd calmed down considerably since coming into the room. "Sorry for barging in," he apologised with a bit of a shrug. Now that the panic was over, he felt embarassed, pressed between them as if they were all huddling for warmth on some little arctic island. He must have made such a fool of himself by running in and being part of the drama. He'd only meant to check on Kousuke, but instead, they were checking on him. He very forcefully pushed back a flush. "I...thought something was happening." 

Kousuke's green-gold eyes dialated just a bit, showing the last bits of remembered terror as he looked away from Ayumu's golden eyes. "I'm...not so sure something wasn't. Some of that...felt too real. Way too real." He hugged himself as if cold, but his shudders were more from fear than any drop in the temperature, his tail lashing beside him in his anxiety. "That darkness that was swallowing me up...it was almost like I was being consumed whole and...erased, somehow. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think...I couldn't even find any sense of _me_ any more. Until you touched me through the Web, I was sure I was going to die." 

Eyes took a long, quiet breath as he listened to Kousuke's description of the nightmare and then looked at the redhead. "I believe...what you just saw in your mind was the Fate that we're all trying to avoid. It was seeking you out." 

"You mean...maybe it came because of the way that Hunter advanced his...growth so quickly?" Ayumu suggested. "It triggered the real thing sooner?" He still had no idea what Fate was, but it felt as if it were an event, something that were to happen at a certain point. 

Kousuke paled, realizing just how near a miss it had really been. "Then...why am I still here?" 

Ayumu looked lost for that answer, turning his gaze questioningly to Eyes. 

"That Web...was spawned from Little Narumi. If he felt the same thing that you did, and his 'reaching out' to you is what stopped it from overtaking you, then that is the reason you're still here." 

Kousuke paled even more. "But I...he...I never believed..." He stopped, letting out a short laugh that sounded to be at least half a sob, and he knew that if he didn't push back the hysteria, he really would start crying again. "Well, that's just really fucking ironic. The one person who truly doesn't believe that Fate can be avoided, and _I'm_ the first one Ayumu saves!" 

Eyes managed a wry little smirk. "See what happens to non-believers." 

"But...I didn't save anyone," Ayumu protested. "I didn't do a damn thing. I was just as out of control as you were..." 

Kousuke looked at him and sighed. "I...dunno. When I look at the Web, the way it seems set up is me more off to one side, like I'm just something to help keep the thing stable. The one at the center holding the whole thing together is you. Call me crazy--which I _might_ just agree with you on right now--but I get the feeling that if you pulled out somehow, I wouldn't be able to hold it up." He looked over at Eyes. "And now you're part of it too." 

"Of course I am," Eyes said, though there was a slightly awestruck quality to his voice that was hard to detect beneath the usual tones. "It's what I've been searching for." But even he had begun to doubt in his path as time wore on, the more the mark hurt him. 

A mark that was quite notably _not_ hurting now. As long as the Web lasted, Eyes was safe.

Kousuke sighed. "Does anyone else feel like they've just been shoved into a situation that they're totally unprepared for? I'm having trouble just wrapping my mind around the idea." 

Ayumu nodded his head, and while Eyes remained still, the look on his face clearly showed that he was right there with the rest of them.

Kousuke sighed. He felt very confused at that moment, and wanted nothing more than to curl up between Eyes and Ayumu to hide for the next month or so. But since Ayumu barely even understood the whole of what they were, let alone knew about the relationship between Eyes and himself, that probably wasn't going to happen. Still, he made no effort to hide it when he laid his head tiredly against Eyes's shoulder. He and the silver-haired boy had been talking about welcoming Ayumu into what they shared, so the redhead felt it was best if Ayumu get used to the idea of their already-existing relationship as early as possible. 

At the same time, Ayumu was wondering if he should be here with the two of them now. With the way that Kousuke looked so at ease being close to Eyes, he felt as if he'd intruded on something he shouldn't have. The thought made him want to blush, but he held it back. "I...I'm sorry. I can go..." 

"You don't have to, Little Narumi. No one is asking you to leave." Eyes assured him. 

"No, we're probably more likely to ask you to stay." Kousuke agreed, his voice soft. Since they were this close already, he decided it was best to see how Ayumu would react to certain possibilities. And if asked later, he could always blame it on exhaustion and near-death experiences. 

Ayumu lowered his head, not quite understanding exactly what was being implied. "I can't stay forever..." 

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "And they call me the baka...Eyes, your turn." 

Eyes glanced at Kousuke as if he were unsure, and then to Ayumu again. "We want you to be close to us, Little Narumi. We believe you belong here as much as either of us do. You would have both of us, and we would have you. Together." 

A moment of silence lapsed between them before Ayumu's golden eyes widened. He pulled away from them to get up. Eyes held back from reaching out to him. He believed in choices, and something like this was something that Ayumu would have to decide for himself. 

"I…It's...too sudden. Like Asazuki said, none of us is prepared for anything. We should figure things out first." He took a few steps back, looking very much embarrassed. 

"'S cool," Kousuke replied, giving a slight smile. "We just wanted you to think about it, and know how we felt. No pressure." He shifted, wincing as it caused a few echoing aches in his battered body. 

It was more like habit that dictated the quick, flustered bow that Ayumu gave. "I see..." He backed to the door, swallowing. "If you...need me again..." He motioned down the hall, indicating without words that he would be going back to bed. The problem was that he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to sleep. 

Eyes nodded. "Of course." He was the picture of calm, as if they hadn't just subtley propositioned Kiyotaka's younger brother. 

"Ja." Kousuke murmured, watching the younger Narumi flee. He sighed and rubbed at tired eyes. The few hours of sleep he'd had before the nightmare hadn't helped much, but he felt too wired at the moment to get back to sleep any time soon.

When Eyes was sure that Ayumu was out of range, he tilted his head to the other Blade Child. "I think perhaps that it was too soon to bring that to his attention. He still has much to accustom himself to." 

The redhead's green-gold eyes flickered towards the other's sapphire gaze and away, and he gave another sigh as he slumped. "Yeah, probably. I give him points for not screaming and heading towards the hills, though. It's just...I don't think he understands just how close I came to total oblivion, Eyes. Just the thought of it gives me the chills, but...it was worse to think about fading into our fate without telling certain people what they mean to me." He paused and bit his lip. "Does that sound as stupid as I think it does?" 

Ever the quiet thinker, it took a moment for Eyes to respond. He did so with a gentle shake of his head. "No, it does not. It's only natural that Ayumu doesn't understand how close you were to Fate. Not even Kiyotaka had a firm understanding of what's happening to us. It's good that you're honest, but let's not forget that he's been dragged into a different sort of fate with us, and he is the centre. That in itself is a lot to adjust to." 

Kousuke nodded, inwardly struggling with himself. He also had things he wanted to tell Eyes, about how he truly loved him, but even with the fact that mind-death had been so close, he was still scared to say anything. Lust and companionship were safe enough for a Blade Child, because the emotions didn't go deep enough to be a danger. Love was another matter entirely, and the redhead couldn't help but worry that someone as practical as Eyes would dismiss it out of hand. "I really am a baka," he finally said, just curling up and burying his face in his arms. 

Eyes sat gazing at him, hugging his knee to his chest since Kousuke had moved out of his arms. "I don't hear you say that often, mostly because of Rio, I'd guess. What makes you say so?" 

"Because some things I really want to say, but it's too hard to say them." the nekojin replied, eyes trained on his clawed fingers instead of anywhere else in the room. "And I think that saying too much has already caused enough damage." 

"Nothing has been damaged here tonight," Eyes reassured him, never turning his gaze away. "Just keep in mind that some things can be said without the aid of words." 

"But words can sometimes be more damaging than a knife or a gun." Kousuke retorted. "And all without ever meaning to be." 

"More often than not, it depends on the intent of the words. Like a blade or a gun, they can be used either to harm or protect. It is up to the recipient to decide the eventual outcome." Eyes felt a bit more comfortable now, the dance of words and logic more familiar to him than the blind grasping for explanations they'd all been doing only a short time ago. 

"Then I guess it's a matter of trusting the recipiant not to turn those words back on the speaker as weapons twice as damaging as before." Kousuke nodded. It made sense. It didn't make him feel any less scared or nervous, but it made sense. 

"In that instance, one should be very aware of who the recipient is before handing them the weapons." Eyes reached out a hand to touch Kousuke's face. "It helps to know what you're up against." 

Kousuke leaned into the touch, his eyes slitting like the cat he was, ears twitching slightly amidst his crimson hair. "What I know is that if I was smart, I'd just shut up and never say anything. However, I've already established that I am a baka." He took a deep breath, steeled himself for the worst, and let the breath and the secret out.

"Eyes...aishiteru."


	8. Chapter 8

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 8/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: And now, what you've all been waiting for…

Warnings: Wow, we have these? Oh yeah. If you don't like the act of boysex, then please skip ahead to the next chapter, as there will be a nice dose of it in the pages ahead. I guess there's a bit of vampirism involved too? Hope you enjoy!

ooooo

_"Eyes...aishiteru."_

For only a brief instant, Eyes felt ice cold. He would never say that he hadn't seen the words coming; he would have been a fool if he hadn't. Especially after the things that Kousuke had said to Ayumu. That frigid feeling he recognized as fear, usually so very far buried beneath an equally cool expression, surfaced in a blossom that crawled over his skin and then dissipated again. The cold made it so easy to reject those emotions, gave him an opening to say that he didn't feel a thing and mean it in the momentary numbness that ensued. 

But he didn't. 

Instead, he wrestled back the fear to let something warmer replace it. He knew that he trusted Kousuke to some level, considering that he could have let the redhead drown back at the lab had he really thought he'd be betrayed. Since the day Rio had brought Kousuke to him, there had been a wary truce that had grown in the time they'd worked together. No matter how much Kousuke claimed that he didn't believe that Fate could be changed, he still fought for them, killed or them, and allowed them to believe in what he couldn't. There was no doubt in Eyes's mind that such loyalty touched him deeply. They were closely connected and had been for awhile. Little Narumi's web only made it that much clearer to see. He didn't have to reject Kousuke's affections. There was room for acceptance. 

So, drawing in a long, cool breath, Eyes's gaze went distant for the moment it took to exhale. Forcibly, he made the cold leave with the air, so that he could feel the warmth that remained from Kousuke's presence. Now, more so than ever, he could be heated by the fires that were Kousuke's alone. His lips parted as if he would speak something, but the words weren't coming. His silence was his own enemy now, and he cursed his inability to find those eloquent words that used to come so easily. His eyes met Kousuke's, locking on for just long enough to convey that he wouldn't reject the feelings. Then his mouth pressed closed again, thin lips forming a troubled line. If the words wouldn't come, if he didn't have a weapon of his own, he'd do the next best thing.  
Leaning forward, he very tentatively brushed a kiss against Kousuke's forehead, then his lips. The first was a reassurance. The second was a promise that he'd say the words when he knew the time was right. 

Kousuke had been ready for rejection. He'd been expecting Eyes to pull back and go cold on him, and tell him that love was a danger he couldn't and wouldn't afford. He'd expected to be left completely alone, and knew that no matter how he prepared himself, it would still hurt enough to shatter him. 

He hadn't expected acceptance, silent or otherwise, and in the state of shock and surprise that followed, he almost couldn't break out of his customary freeze in time to realize that yes, Eyes was kissing him, and yes, he should definitely be kissing back. So that's what he did, reaching up to wrap his arms around the silver-haired boy's shoulders and gripping the back of his shirt to hide how his hands were trembling.

Eyes almost pulled back from the kiss, afraid of the commitment that was behind it. He'd drilled himself to believe that he could never get close to another Blade Child, nothing beyond the physical parameters. His experiences with Kanone had cemented that, and he'd lived it religiously...until now. 

Now, he didn't want to hold back. The momentary feeling of safety that Ayumu had incurred made it just a little easier to bend his own rules. He kissed Kousuke back instead of withdrawing, shifting his body so that he could embrace the redhead in return. The fingertips of one hand drifted over his shoulders, the other hand gripping Kousuke's shirt at the lower back.

Kousuke purred into the kiss, loving the touches. He felt so much better, knowing that Eyes understood how he felt and hadn't punted him out the window for it. The idea that the other boy actually returned it in some small way was enough to put the redhead on cloud nine. 

Eyes held the other Blade Child close as he held onto the kiss. He didn't feel the need to let go just yet, exploring the firm softness of Kousuke's lips first with his own, then experimentally with the tip of his tongue. It was very unobtrusive, a way of asking permission instead of just assuming he was welcome. 

The redhead shivered at the light touch, opening his mouth to the exploration and meeting it with his own. His hands began kneading at the other boy's back like cat's paws. 

A soft mewl came from Eyes's throat as he felt Kousuke's hands against him, kissed deeper. He only had one thing to compare the way the redhead felt and tasted to, and he couldn't deny that this was so much better. This wasn't happening for the wrong reasons or because Eyes didn't know what to do this time. He knew, and he wanted it with Kousuke. His tongue slipped deeper into the other boy's mouth, tasting it slowly and carefully, as was his way. 

Kousuke was a little less patient and a little rougher, but the affection was obvious as he continued the kiss. The mewl sent desire shooting through him like molten honey, hot and thick, and it was an effort not to just pounce. 

Eyes shifted just a little closer, tilting his head slightly so that he could try and keep up with the more heated pace that Kousuke wanted. In the back of his mind, he could feel a gentle tingling that spread over his skin, making it flush a bit, as if Kousuke's desire were contagious. He met Kousuke's impatience with an eagerness of his own, not just kissing deeper but harder. 

Kousuke only broke the kiss when the need for air was strong enough to overcome desire. Even then, it didn't make him pull away completely, but instead shift his attentions to nuzzling at Eyes's neck like an affectionate kitten. He breathed deeply, wanting to get the scent of the other boy, knowing it would be yet another way he'd be able to know him, even if he couldn't see him. 

Kousuke was beginning to think that nekojin instincts were a lot smarter than human ones, actually... 

Eyes let out a sigh of pleasure, tipping his head back a little not only to get a breath of air, but to give Kousuke room to explore. His ivory skin carried the gentle musk of his preferred cologne, but it was in no way overpowering. And just beneath that was the scent of the leather that he so often loved to wear. 

Kousuke found that he loved that scent, and filed it away in his memory. The nuzzling became kissing and light nibbling, as the redhead tasted the sweet-salt flavor of the pale skin. His fangs scraped lightly over the soft silken surface, and a small part of him urged to bite, but Kousuke fought that. He was afraid of doing anything that might hurt Eyes. 

Another soft sound rumbled in the pianist's throat, his next breath staggering just a little, quiet signs that Eyes was enjoying what Kousuke did. His own fingertips were making their way past the barrier of the other Blade Child's shirt, one hand slipping beneath at the base of Kousuke's spine, the other trailing over his throat and the collar that dipped down into sculpted chest. 

Kousuke purred, deep and loud, sending a light vibration through that chest. He nipped a little harder at the throat under his lips, and his hands began to match Eyes's in their wandering, tracing the other boy's body through the leather vest he wore, silently marveling at the hidden strength.

Eyes too was also admiring what he touched, knowing all along that Kousuke was strong, but now able to feel the evidence right at his fingertips. He couldn't help the moan he let out, eyes fluttering closed as he whispered Kousuke's name. More...he wanted more of that pressure, the pain-pleasure of teeth against his skin. 

The sound of Eyes's voice in pleasure fanned the flames of Kousuke's desire still further, and also made the instinct to mark him that much stronger. But he fought it back again, wanting permission before doing such a thing. "Eyes...I...I want to bite you. I don't really understand why, but I want to mark you." He pulled away a little, moving one of his hands to brush against that pale face. "But you're not some object I can claim, and I'm scared that I'd hurt you. So it's up to you, to let me know what I can do and what I can't." 

By now, Eyes's cheeks were flushed a very pale pink, his eyes like electric sapphires. He was gazing at Kousuke with such intensity that it matched whatever flames were within. He dropped the hand from the redhead's hair to the top buckle on his vest. Getting it undone with only a slight bit of shakiness, he bared one shoulder to Kousuke. "I don't wish to hide what we are completely, but there are some things best kept discreet for the moment." He was sure that Kousuke would understand. Visible marks might be misinterpreted. "But you won't hurt me by following your instincts. As long as you don't mean to treat me like an object, I never will be one." 

_I'm not going to be another Kanone,_ was the thought Kousuke had, but he didn't say it, not wanting to ruin the moment by uttering that name. Instead, he smiled, leaning forward to press another kiss against those tempting lips. "Arigatou," he whispered against them, his hands already returning to the gentle explorations of earlier. 

"No thanks needed," Eyes murmured, tugging at the loose shirt that was draped over Kousuke's body. _Let me see..._ he thought to himself, not feeling quite confident enough yet to say them out loud. 

Kousuke felt the tug, and hesitated, once more meeting Eyes's gaze. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You saw the damage that was under there before, and a pattern of leopard spots isn't going to make it any prettier. I still look like a half-starved junkie's night gone bad. Do you really want to see that?" 

"No matter what the Hunter has done, you are still Kousuke Asazuki. Nothing can stain that, not even Fate." He gave another gentle tug, tilting his head just a bit. "Please?" 

The redhead sighed and chuckled softly. "How is it that you always know exactly what to say and how to say it?" he murmured, and gave a nod of assent, lifting his arms a little to help with getting the tunic off.

"Practice," Eyes murmured, pulling the shirt over Kousuke's head and letting his gaze run the complete length of the redhead's body. Never once did an expression of disgust taint his features. Instead, the other boy was almost fascinated by the markings of the nekojin and the subtle feline power Kousuke possessed. "And honesty."

The leopard spots were a dramatic mark against the redhead's pale skin, covering most of his body and leaving only his hands, feet, and face truly unmarked. The spots were smaller along his chest and belly, but still visible. It was actually quite lovely, but from the way Kousuke squirmed a little under Eyes's gaze, it was something the redhead was going to have a little trouble getting used to. 

"It's all right, Kousuke..." Eyes soothed gently, unable to resist the call of those unusual markings. Even if Kousuke would take some getting used to them, they looked somewhat right as they were. Eyes never would have been able to think about it if he didn't have a way to see it, but now that it was there, he had no trouble picturing how natural the coloring seemed. He gently touched upon the smaller spots over Kousuke's chest, and the light brush over his nipple was easily passed off as an accidental stop on his quest over the leopard marks. 

Kousuke let out a soft gasp, his back arching just the tiniest bit. He flushed ever so slightly at his own reactions to such a simple touch, but covered it by once more returning to his attentions on the other Blade Child's throat. He nuzzled and nipped at the one bare shoulder, moving inward until he could run a startlingly rough tongue over the other boy's pulse. 

Eyes would have smirked at the reaction, had Kousuke not closed in on his throat once more. The feel of the sandpaper tongue that was so easily attributed to cats sent an equally rough shiver down his spine. He'd been around cats enough to know how that felt, but somehow, coming from Kousuke, it was a totally different sensation altogether. He gripped Kousuke's shoulders, knowing that he'd probably need something to hold onto. 

The redhead purred at the embrace, running his tongue along the skin a few more times, both for the reaction and the fact that Eyes's skin tasted nice. Then, he gathered his courage and bit down gently. The taste of the silver-haired boy's blood filled his senses, and he couldn't stop the soft moan at the flavor. 

"Aaah...!" Eyes's head fell back, his eyes wide before they fluttered shut, lips parted slightly. His fingertips dug into Kousuke's shoulders, making sure he didn't fall against the other boy as his body trembled with the new intrusion. It was slight, but it made his blood seem to burn beneath his skin, focusing on the point where Kousuke's lips were fixed on him and spreading outward in a hot rush of pleasure. 

Kousuke purred louder at the sound, both relieved and smug at the same time. Getting reactions out of Eyes was difficult at the best of times, and there was just something about his voice when he moaned that made Kousuke's blood boil. Taking a small risk, he bit harder, hoping to increase the pleasure his lover was feeling. 

Eyes was panting by now, his body so quickly reacting to the harder pressure, as if it knew more what to do with it than Eyes did himself. For a brief moment, he thought of doing the same to Kousuke, returning the claim, but he wasn't sure how since he didn't have teeth like that, and it would hurt far more than feel good without them. He didn't get long to think about it as he cried out softly again, this time murmuring Kousuke's name in a soft moan following it. He felt dizzy, but certainly not in a bad way, the world spinning down until it was just himself and Kousuke in it. 

Kousuke loved the sounds of Eyes in pleasure. His voice sounded exactly like silk velvet, smooth and sensually soft. He wondered, though, if he could get the quiet boy to be any louder, and he let his hands wander to the front of Eyes's vest, undoing the second buckle and slipping those calloused fingers inside to brush against soft skin. 

Another shudder took the Englishman's body, and he knew he was beginning to lose control of things. He had to wonder if he ever had it to begin with... His hands slowly fell away from Kousuke's shoulders so that they wouldn't be in the way. He had been kneeling on the bed when he'd embraced Kousuke after the nightmare, so he sat now on his knees, arms at his sides, his head tipped just slightly as if he were some pure offering dressed up in darkness to make it look more tempting. 

Kousuke pulled back from the bite, looking at the vision Eyes made before him, and gave a soft whistle of admiration. "You're damn gorgeous, you know that?" he whispered. He knew Eyes probably heard it all the time, and thus wouldn't put much value to the compliment, but the redhead truly meant it, and couldn't help but say it. His hands continued to stroke and massage at the muscles under his touch, brushing over Eyes's nipples in much the same semi-accidental manner that the silver boy had used on him.

It meant something different coming from Kousuke, though Eyes wasn't quite sure how. Maybe it was the fact that it wasn't just a nameless fan...and it wasn't manipulative Kanone, who seemed to know so easily how to use words to their full advantage. "Thank you..." he breathed, his voice catching as Kousuke's fingers brushed over his nipples, eliciting another of those soft moans. 

Kousuke smiled, dropping all illusion of subtlety and focusing on the sensitive nipples. While the fingertips were rough with calluses, the touch itself was still quite gentle, as if the redhead were playing a delicate instrument instead of touching another living being. Odd, since Kousuke had never claimed to be able to play anything more complex than a kazoo. 

Eyes knew the touch of a musician, but he didn't have a chance to think on it. Not now when everything else seemed to be right. For the moment, he was content with letting himself absorb every little detail, having the tiniest feeling that he'd learn more about Kousuke in this night than he ever would. He shivered almost violently under the touches, feeling the ache of need becoming more and more apparent the more Kousuke touched him. He was losing control on that cold nature of his, and while it scared him, he couldn't think of any way to stop it from happening. 

Kousuke could smell the fear, feel it in his mind, and an already softened heart melted. "It's okay," he whispered, feeling a little awkward with the unaccustomed need to comfort, "it's safe to let go. No one can hear or see you but me, and I won't let anything out of this room that you don't want let out." 

Eyes took a deep breath and let it out in a soft sigh. "This isn't like me. I'm not one to require such reassurance." He noticed then that he was trembling, ever so slightly, and he wished that he could stop it, feeling as if it would lessen Kousuke's opinion of him if he showed anything other than the quiet solidity he was used to presenting. 

Kousuke shrugged and gave one of those mischievous smiles that came with his jester's mask, hoping it would calm Eyes some. "Don't worry. Lots of people get nervous in situations like this. I'd probably be freaking out if I was really thinking about it. However, since all blood for the brain is currently somewhere else, I don't have to." Despite the joking, his hands were moving down Eyes's belly and sides in soothing strokes, as if trying to caress the tremors away. 

"Somewhere else..." Eyes let out a soft laugh at the thought, knowing exactly where Kousuke spoke of, though he was quite well-trained that it wasn't something mentioned in polite conversation. However, this was hardly "polite" conversation. The sound was unusual coming from Eyes, the pleasant chuckle as out of place as the soft smile that followed. 

That caused Kousuke's own smile to brighten considerably. He'd never heard Eyes laugh before, and the thought that _he_ was the cause of the laughter just made it even better for him. It was a beautiful sound, and the sight went beyond words. He leaned forward, unable to resist kissing that smile, his arms pulling the paler boy against him. 

Eyes made a startled sound of surprise, but this time, there was no hesitation or contemplation of pulling back. He settled into Kousuke's arms to return the kiss. 

The kiss was rougher this time, Kousuke exploring Eyes's mouth with a fierce hunger. He _wanted_ Eyes, more with every moment, every little chip of the ice walls that fell away. He slid his hands under the open vest to the musician's back, running his claws lightly over his spine. 

That seemingly delicate body arched in response, Eyes losing the battle to match Kousuke's pace. He settled for letting the kiss, and its giver, overtake him and his senses. He closed his eyes once more and shrugged his shoulders a little to get the vest to fall away completely before resting his hands against Kousuke's chest. 

With the baring of yet more skin to explore, Kousuke broke the kiss to move downward, using lips, teeth and tongue to make a blazing trail down Eyes's neck to his chest. 

Uncurling his legs out from underneath him as Kousuke continued his explorations, he lay back onto the bed to give his lover better space to move. Sitting up and trying to reach the bared places couldn't be all that comfortable. Besides, he felt less like he'd fall over if he was already down. 

Kousuke purred in thanks, lapping at one sensitive nipple while he continued to trace invisible designs into Eyes's skin with his claws. He was being very careful, making sure there was only the lightest scratch to the skin. 

If normal touch had felt good, the rough dampness of Kousuke's tongue was twice as pleasing, drawing another moan, this one louder than those before it. He offered his body up to the talented mouth, the artistic claws. 

Kousuke's desire burned hotter at the sound, and he didn't even think before biting into the small nub. His hands were moving lower, down over the pale boy's muscular stomach and just barely under the waistband of his pants, teasing in their proximity to the proof of Eyes's own desire. 

Slender hips bucked just slightly, yet another sign of the musician's weakening control over himself. The moan became a tormented little cry, the need for more and more something he was having trouble keeping up with. It was as if his body had been waiting for something like this a long time, and had hit the ground running at the slightest offering, taking his mind and senses with it. 

The redheaded Blade Child suckled harder, loving the flavor of the other boy just as much as the cries for more. He wanted to keep pushing Eyes's limits, to find out what would make him lose all control, what would make him beg, and what would make him scream. 

Eyes felt himself being tested and couldn't mind it. He knew that whatever the results, he could trust Kousuke not to abuse them. They would reach a mutual gain if this went further, so the young man saw no reason to stop it. He was trembling under Kousuke again, but this time, it wasn't from fear. 

Kousuke switched to the other nipple, not biting this time, but just using gentle nips and suckling. He let his hands move further, running over the leather-sheathed arousal between Eyes's legs and once more beginning the catlike kneading. 

"Nnnngg..!" It was an almost desperate noise, a shot of fire-hot desire racing through his veins, groin outward. "K-Kousuke...!" His eyes clenched a little, his hips thrusting up into the feline movement of fingers. 

"Hmmm?" the redhead purred, green-gold eyes practically glowing with hunger. "Something you want, Eyes?" His hands slowed, teasing mercilessly.

"M-more...!" Eyes was trying not to beg, for it wasn't something he usually allowed for himself. But Kousuke's rough and pleasurable touches were driving him to distraction from anything he considered normal. A darker flush tainted his high cheekbones as he realized his outburst, gaze turning away slightly. His breath came in harsh gasps, the slits of his cat eyes slim, leaving a glow of beautiful blue. 

Kousuke smiled, not by any means unhappy with the plea. "Your wish is my command," he murmured, leaning up to give Eyes another deep kiss as he unfastened the front of the other Blade Child's pants so that he could touch him directly. 

Eyes kissed Kousuke a little more fiercely with the skin-to-skin contact. His nails dragged along the bed covers, back arching almost completely off the bed. His hips rolled upward, the roughened palm gliding against his length with a delicious sensation. 

Kousuke explored Eyes's arousal, marveling at just how soft the skin was there, like silk under his touch, and startlingly warm in comparison with the cooler temperatures of the rest of his body. He ran his claws along the length, but with extreme care. There were some places where one just _was not_ careless with sharp claws. 

The crude orange blankets were clenched between Eyes's fingers now as he fought to keep still under the careful ministrations. He was forced to remain as he was so that Kousuke wouldn't make an accidental slip with the claws, but at the same time, all he wanted to do was stretch and reach for more. He'd never felt anything like this, and even sexual pleasure before now had never been quite so intense. He believed that it was because he truly wanted Kousuke, which made the touches easier to bear. 

Kousuke reluctantly pulled away, backing down until he was sitting at Eyes's feet. Before he went any farther, he wanted to make sure his lover was comfortable, and that meant those leather pants had to go. Besides, he wanted very much to see the pale boy in his entirety, without anything to block the view. 

Eyes sat up a little bit, leaning on his arms to look at Kousuke curiously. He tilted his head, some of that argent hair slipping into his face, brushing against reddened skin. He felt embarrassed to be bared, but he wouldn't stop Kousuke from going further, knowing that he couldn't deny wanting it. 

Kousuke seemed to know what he was thinking, and gave another of those soft smiles that he only showed when it was just them. "We won't go farther than you're willing, I promise. I just know that leather pants get uncomfortable after a while, and I don't want you distracted. Besides, I want to see you." He was already tugging at the pants, but not hard. If Eyes really had a problem with it, he would leave it be and just work around it. 

But Eyes let him do as he liked, really having no argument for such logic. He writhed a little to assist, nodding in acceptance to Kousuke's words. "I'm willing to go as far as I can, and I haven't found a reason to stop yet." 

The redhead gave Eyes an intent look, those green-gold orbs serious. "But you will tell me if you do? Promise me that if you need me to stop, you'll tell me." He reached up, brushing a lock of silver hair away from the flushed face of the pianist. It would have killed him to hurt Eyes, even by accident. 

"I promise." Eyes meant it. There was one that he hadn't been able to say no to, and he would be damned if he ever let that happen to him again. Kousuke understood, though. He seemed to know how to get past the complexities Eyes possessed and overcome them with nothing more than his own charm and personality. 

Kousuke didn't consciously notice it, but some of the tension he'd been carrying left with that promise. Despite the image he generally projected to the world, he didn't like hurting others unless they'd royally deserved it. And as far as he was concerned, all Eyes deserved was his love and utmost respect. 

And his complete admiration. He gazed at the other boy, breath taken away by the sight. Eyes lay on the bed, with the moonlight from the windows accentuating every curve and valley of the surprisingly muscular body. His skin looked like the finest ivory in that light and his silver hair shone almost as brightly as those sapphire eyes. In that moment, Kousuke would have sworn on anything that Eyes was perfection in and of itself. 

As if he somehow knew what Kousuke was thinking, Eyes flushed just a little darker. He wasn't good at accepting the praise, even though he was used to hearing it in one form or another. But it was different to hear it from the redhead than it was to hear it from Kanone, his fans, those he met on the streets. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that he had no room for shame here. He took a deep breath and once more turned to meet Kousuke's gaze. He offered a small smile. "Whatever you're thinking, I've likely thought it about you." 

Kousuke's response was to blush deeply, but it didn't get rid of his grin. "Is that before or after I've done something to drive you and Rio up the wall?" Now that the pants were out of the way, the redhead scooted up again, gently parting Eyes's legs and settling down between them. He leaned down, nuzzling at the hard length, before beginning to lap at it, almost as if he was washing him. 

Eyes couldn't formulate an answer fast enough, before Kousuke's tongue descended on him. He moaned loudly, lifting his hips up again. Like before it was still rough and such a strange, delicious feeling. "Kousuke..." he murmured. 

"Mmm?" The redhead's voice was a touch distracted, since most of his attention was on the scent, flavor and texture of the skin beneath his lips. He wanted to make Eyes feel everything as if it were his first time. And if he couldn't manage that, he'd at least do his best to erase any memories of a certain bastard back in London. He nibbled along the very tip, teasing at the slit. 

It did feel like the first time, or at best, it replaced any other memory. Eyes was totally focused on Kousuke and what he was doing, trying not to thrust into the redhead's mouth before he was prepared for it. His body shook with the effort, and again he groaned his pleasure, a bit louder this time. Each wall that Kousuke took down made Eyes respond a little louder, a little more intensely. 

Kousuke wanted to make all the walls fall, to see Eyes lose hold of that iron control of his and just be himself for a while. To that end, he began to take Eyes into his mouth, but went as slow as possible, teasing the silver-haired boy for all he was worth. He pinned down the other boy's hips, absently massaging at the flesh there. All the while, he was purring, adding the vibration of the sound to everything else. 

Kousuke's grip was strong on him, and even though he was trying not to move, he still couldn't help it. Yet, despite his uncontrollable movements, the redhead was still able to keep him still. His back made a clean arc off the bed as he was slowly, torturously enveloped by Kousuke's warm lips and tongue. The vibrations added a nice touch, the trembling of his body matching the rhythm of the purr. The ecstasy began to sharpen, building a strong pressure in his hips that made him claw at the bed just a little more. His voice rose in a mewl that ended in Kousuke's name. 

The reaction to that was an increase in the volume of Kousuke's rumbling purr, but not to increase in the speed of his mouth. He just continued to move in a slow but steady rhythm, suckling gently as he did. The only sign that Eyes's cries were having a more profound effect was the agitated way his tail was thrashing behind him.

Muscles tensed under ivory skin, straining as he fought the fires of sensation. They erupted over his skin, feeding off of his body from the inside out as he lay helpless to Kousuke's attention. His head tossed back and forth a little, silver hair fluttering like a halo around his drawn, flushed face. "God...Kousuke, please...!" He didn't think he could take much more of the sweet torment without fighting harder, and he didn't want to hurt Kousuke or make him stop. 

Kousuke just chuckled, refusing to speed up until he made Eyes lose control. He scraped his fangs along the other Blade Child's length once in silent offering. 

That dragged an almost scream from the pianist, and he actually jerked his hips hard enough to almost break Kousuke's grip. "Kousuke..." It came out nearly like a growl, as if he too had attracted some of the redhead's feline qualities, but it was slightly deeper and definitely with a tone of desperation to it. 

_Yes...that's what I wanted. Just let go, Eyes. I'll catch you._ Kousuke took the reaction as an affirmative, and gently bit into the hardened flesh, moaning a little himself once more at the taste. He could readily get himself addicted to the flavor of the pianist's blood, but couldn't really find it in himself to care. 

Eyes was certainly glad they were alone when the real scream managed to slip free from his throat. His lips were parted, chest rapidly rising and falling with his shortened, frantic breaths. He was arched over the mattress again, mewling at the added sensation against his arousal. 

Kousuke fed for a short while, but not for too long. As nice as this was, and as much as Eyes seemed to enjoy it, the last thing that the silver-haired boy needed was to be drained until anemic. So he pulled back, still lapping gently at the bite mark to catch the last droplets of crimson. "What would you like me to do, Eyes?" he asked when done, nuzzling against the stiff flesh. 

Eyes thought for sure that even that gentle nuzzling would drive him crazy. "Tell me..." he managed to say with only a slight shake to his voice. "What _would _you do...?" 

The nekojin smiled and straightened up. "Lots of different things, but making you lose that icy control is a definite start. You sound so incredible in passion, and there's really no reason not to let it show. The room's soundproofed, after all. And even if Rio _did_ hear screaming, she'd think I was just dreaming about the zombie peaches again." 

"Except that it was me screaming and not you," Eyes pointed out with a smile and a shake of his head. He was leaning up on his elbows now so that he could look at Kousuke. His eyes were considerably darker, almost drowning out the feline-like slit. 

Kousuke shrugged. "Muffled through a soundproof wall, how would she be able to tell?" He sat back on his heels, admiring the sapphire gaze. "Other than that...I'd like--hells, I'd _love_ to take you. But that's something where your wishes definitely take precedence." 

Eyes tilted his head, reaching out with one hand to brush against Kousuke's face. "And my wish is to be taken." His voice was almost a whisper; it took a lot to admit that. It meant losing a lot of control and handing both that and his trust to Kousuke. 

Kousuke leaned into the touch, eyes once again slitting like the happy kitty he was. Still, he had to make sure. "Are you sure? I've never done this before, even if I know the basics. It might hurt, at first." 

Eyes let out an embarrassed laugh at that. "Yes...yes it will." He felt a little...ashamed that someone like himself was going to be Kousuke's first. It made him feel like he wasn't worth that kind of honor. "But I am sure." 

Kousuke was glad that Eyes was sure, but he didn't like the feel of the emotions coming from the other boy. He pinched his side. "I don't know _exactly_ what you're thinking, but quit selling yourself short. There's nothing to be ashamed of." With that, he reached over to the side of the bed where his end table was, and started digging through the drawer. This was a bit of a task, since like almost every other drawer and shelf in the room, it was packed with all sorts of little items, and not at all organized.

Eyes almost argued with him, but figured it wasn't worth ruining the mood to do so. Half of him was afraid of saying something wrong when he was trying so hard to do everything right. And the other half didn't care about the formalities, just the raw hunger and desire that had already claimed him and left him aching to be one with Kousuke. He nodded his consent and watched with some amusement as Kousuke rummaged, likely searching for some sort of lubricant. If he knew the "basics", he would be reasonable enough not to take him dry. It wasn't as if it hadn't happened, but Eyes would have preferred a bit of preparation, especially since they both seemed to desperately want to do this as if it were the first time. Lovers were not careless on the first time. 

_Scissors...thumb tacks...colored strings...Naruto yo-yo...dammit, where did I put it?! Bubble gum...miniature pistol...vial of arsenic...Big Bird cookie cutter--why the fuck do I have one of those again?--...super balls..._ "Ah-HA! Found it!" He pulled out a small jar that was about half-filled with amber-colored oil, holding it up triumphantly as he shoved the now even more disorganized drawer shut. He handed it to Eyes, pulling out the stopper for him. "Tell me if this scent is okay. If you don't like it, I'll get the hand lotion from the bathroom."

Slender fingers grasped the bottle, lifting it delicately, and Eyes took a slow breath of the scent. It charmed him that Kousuke would be so considerate as to even offer to change the scent for him. He was beginning to understand that it was just as much about the little things as it was the entire act. 

The scent of vanilla and cinnamon wafted up from the bottle, a very light sweet scent with just a hint of a burning undertone. It seemed a little out of place for Kousuke's character, and truly, even though the bottle showed obvious signs of use, the scent of vanilla had never once been detectable on the redhead. So one had to wonder what he used it for. 

Eyes tilted his head curiously at the other Blade Child, but didn't question it out loud as he nodded his agreement to it. "I think this will do perfectly. You won't have to retrieve anything else." Truth be told, he really liked the combination of scents, the sweet contradiction. He was curious, but decided to wait until later to ask. Tipping the bottle gently, he poured a little bit of it into the palm of his other hand before offering it back to Kousuke. He felt that it was about time that he returned some of the attention he'd been getting. After one more heated gaze over the wiry, muscular frame, he leaned forward to grasp Kousuke's length gently, pumping it up and down to spread the oil, as well as contribute his own offerings of pleasure. 

Kousuke's back arched in a smooth movement, like flame over shadows. He let out a growling moan at the feel of those slick hands on him, and it was all he could do to put the bottle down properly instead of drop it and let it leak all over the floor. 

Eyes almost chuckled at the shaky way Kousuke had to put down the bottle, also pleased with himself for having such an effect. Sure, it was just a simple touch, but he was the one doing it, and that's what seemed to matter the most right now. "This was worth waiting for," he murmured almost reverently, hand concentrating on its work, gaze concentrated on the reactions. 

"Nah," Kousuke murmured, his voice having turned into a rough purr, "what comes next will be worth waiting for." His eyes were practically molten, shining so brightly in the reflected moonlight from the window, hot with hunger for the other boy. He tried to hold still, to give Eyes free reign, but he couldn't stop the tiny movements of his hips as he instinctively tried to get closer to that expert touch. 

Eyes seemed to know exactly what Kousuke wanted, and he leaned forward even further, taking a handful of red hair with his free hand, tugging the boy closer to him. Their bodies almost pressed together in a line until the curve of their hips intervened, leaving Eyes room to tighten his grip and continue stroking the heated arousal. His lips set to work along Kousuke's jaw and throat, alternating from kissing, to lapping, to biting, then back again. 

The redhead whimpered and writhed, eyes squeezing shut as the pleasure from just those simple little ministrations. His head tilted back to bare the patterned skin of his throat, and he gasped Eyes's name like a prayer. 

Eyes shivered and continued until he was sure Kousuke wouldn't be able to take much more. And as his hand fell away, he made one last capture with his lips, kissing the other Blade Child with every intention of stealing thought and breath. 

Kousuke mewled softly at the loss of the touch, but was quickly distracted by that all-consuming kiss. He moaned and gave Eyes the control, just for that moment, clutching at the pale shoulders for support. 

Eyes kissed Kousuke as he'd never dared to kiss anyone before. It allowed him to have control and power, and all the things that he desired so greatly. And when he wasn't discouraged, wasn't pushed back for it, he held on until he also had no breath. Pulling away, he panted softly and brushed a lock of hair that had fallen to his reddened face. "Sorry..." he said quietly, smiling a little sheepishly for having taken over. 

"Mmm...I'm not complaining," Kousuke purred, his voice still in that sensual rumble as he reached out to snatch that raised hand, pulling it to his mouth and nibbling lightly at those elegant fingers. 

Eyes didn't hold back a soft moan of contented pleasure at that, liking the attention to his hands. He often worked them quite hard at the keys; it was nice to have them pampered every now and then. 

Kousuke continued in his exploration of those pale hands, much encouraged by the noises his lover was making. He traced the fingers with his tongue, nibbled at his palm, and kissed at the pulse point on his wrist. His own pleasure had long since become secondary to pleasing Eyes, and he threw himself into that task with the same fervor that he had for solving puzzles or protecting his little family. 

It was a guilty pleasure, Eyes admitted to himself, letting Kousuke do the work and not stopping him from focusing where he was. But he couldn't help it. So rarely were his hands so wonderfully worshipped, not even the one who thought he knew him inside out had understood this particular enjoyment. He soaked it up for all that he could, closing his eyes and tilting his head back. 

The redhead paused, just looking at the young man before him, and gave a particularly soft little smile. "You really are incredible, you know that? How'd I get so lucky?" 

"Huh?" Eyes answered intelligently, pulling himself down from the cloud he'd been put on and blinking at Kousuke. "I don't understand..." 

The redhead shrugged, nuzzling at the soft palms again before finally letting them go. "You're beautiful, you're blindingly intelligent, you're powerful, and you're secretly very caring. You could have anyone you wanted, including people in leagues _way_ above mine, but you chose me. I'm just marveling at my luck. Sure, luck's a big part of a Blade Child's existence, but having you pushes the limits into next Tuesday." 

Eyes shook his head, hands resting on his thighs. "It's not a matter of luck. I'm powerful and intelligent only because I want so desperately to live. I never meant to be caring, because I thought it meant that I would die. But I learned that it takes a certain bit of kindness to earn the trust of other like minds. As for the higher leagues, they don't understand as much as they think they do. I'm far better taken care of here where you are...and where Rio is. Don't question your worth to me...and never make it sound like luck when you've earned anything I've given you a thousand times over." 

Kousuke's smile widened and he cocked his head to one side, considering the words before answering. "Funny, I don't feel like I've done anything all that special. And careful how much praise you give, or I fear my head will swell to the point where I can't get out the door." 

"I don't have much farther to go then, do I?" Eyes teased with a tiny smile. "And of course it doesn't feel like you were doing anything special. That's the amazing part. So just take it for what it is, all right?" 

Kousuke stuck his tongue out at him, then gave a soft laugh. "Hai, hai. Now lay back. I want to do this right, and that means preparing you." He reached over and picked up the bottle once again. He may have been more than ready to go, but he was serious about doing everything possible to avoid pain for the other boy. 

Eyes reached out and touched his hand. "It's all right." He almost hated to admit it, but he would be all right without the preparation. He didn't want to delay Kousuke, or himself, from their desires any longer than they had to. "You don't have to..." 

Kousuke hesitated, brow furrowing slightly in concern. "You sure?" 

The silver-haired boy nodded. "I promise." 

Kousuke nodded, putting the bottle back down and brushing a hand along Eyes's pale face. "Okay, then. But you still need to lie back." 

Eyes nuzzled Kousuke's hand before easing back into the pillows, his hair splaying out like a halo in the moonlight. 

Kousuke wondered, and not for the first time, what the heck Eyes was doing outside of naughty women's' magazine centerfolds. Sometimes, he just seemed too beautiful to be real. Pushing the thought aside, he settled between the musician's legs. Taking gentle hold of his hips, the redhead began to push inside. 

The musician hissed a little at the first moment of penetration, but easily adjusted to the invasion. As he'd fairly indicated, he was no virgin, but it was hard not to feel that way with the careful way Kousuke treated him. Had it been anyone else, he would have been upset at being treated like he was too fragile. However, in this instance, he was content to be handled like glass, at least for the moment. 

To cover the pain of penetration, Kousuke reached down and took hold of Eyes's length, moving his hand fast and hard, giving rough touches that contrasted with the gentle way he claimed him, moving forward slowly but not stopping. 

Eyes cried out at the sudden rush of pleasure that came from Kousuke's more insistent caresses along his length, the contrasting sensations making him jump a little and whimper in the back of his throat.

A throat that Kousuke was again finding irresistible. It was taking all he had not to just pound into the hot sheath of Eyes's body, and he let that tension go by leaning down and covering that ivory expanse with little nips and stinging kisses. His hand never paused, even when he finally got fully inside and forced himself to hold still, letting the other adjust to the invasion. 

Already, Eyes's body was tightening around Kousuke's length, welcoming it within the tight heat. Once more, the Englishman was panting his back and neck arching as much as they could, leaving muscles tense under preciously smooth skin. "...Kousuke..." he mewled in appreciation. 

Kousuke's response was a wordless little growl of pure need, his fangs digging a little harder at the soft flesh of his throat. The crimson tail lashed, brushing silken fur against the inside of Eyes's thighs, the redhead waiting for even the slightest sign that Eyes was ready to begin.

The sign came in the form of a gentle thrust of Eyes's hips. He gave his own little growl, hands going to Kousuke's shoulders, nails digging in hard, but not enough to break skin. Each lash of the tail made him shiver and clench around the redhead's length. 

Kousuke began moving, slow at first, but quickly taking on a faster pace. His hands wandered over every inch of skin they could reach; searching for sensitive areas he could use to drive the other wild. 

Eyes's moans were encouraging, the musician barely able to hold back and not really trying anymore. He arched his back and tightened even more to offer Kousuke as much pleasure as he was getting. When the redhead's hands moved over his hips on the quest to find sensitive locations, the other boy let out a yelp and bucked his hips. 

That got a startled cry out of the redhead, and he couldn't help but thrust back hard, his hands clutching reflexively at those narrow hips. 

That was what he wanted... the feeling, that he wasn't just a possession. Every movement Kousuke did was for their mutual pleasure, not just his own, and that made all the difference. This time, he screamed, throwing his head back, eyes closed. 

Kousuke was startled by the reaction, and almost froze. He _would_ have, except that he could feel Eyes's ecstasy through his empathy, and knew that he hadn't hurt the other Blade Child. He shuddered, losing himself to the feel of Eyes's pleasure as well as his own, and tried to reach out with his gift to envelop the musician in it as well. 

It was like drowning, except that being smothered in something never felt like heaven before. He threw his entire self and everything he was feeling into that warmth of Kousuke's mind and strength. Their bodies seemed to be in tune with each other, Eyes holding on as he rode Kousuke as much as he could from beneath him, his cries unhindered by any of his precious control. 

Kousuke bit him, unable to resist any longer. He could feel it himself now, the slight sting of broken skin followed by the wave of fire that raced through their veins as he drank. 

Eyes felt like he was being hit with twice the sensation, screaming again as it overtook him with all the force of a tidal wave or summer storm. He was so close now, and he wrapped his legs around Kousuke's hips, dragging him in as deep as he could go, tightening as much as he was able. 

The redhead cried out at the extra pressure, biting harder. He shifted his hips, continuing to give Eyes what he was wordlessly begging for, and accidentally struck the place that sent lightning through their entwined senses. 

Eyes's scream came out more choked this time as he shuddered and writhed, his nails scraping down Kousuke's back without him really realizing it. He couldn't take much more, his skin and senses on fire as if the redhead held and controlled the flame all on his own. 

Kousuke pulled away from the bite, kissing the silver-haired vision with fierce passion. _What do you want, Eyes?_ he asked, and while empathy had no words, the emotions gave voice to the question just as well. _Anything you want, I'll do. Anything at all...  
_

_You...!_ The silver-haired boy's reply was also with his thoughts and emotions, not really knowing how to make anything else more clear. Forming coherent thoughts was almost impossible, so putting them to actual words was even more so. _Only you!  
_

Kousuke smiled into the kiss at Eyes's response, his hands leaving the other boy's hips. He needed them free for something that suddenly seemed far more important, and that was to wrap one arm around the musician's waist while the other hand clasped onto Eyes's own. _You have me. You will always have me.  
_

A true smile touched Eyes's face, for a moment drowning out all the sensation that had built up between them. It was enough gratitude and relief he could express without words, and his fingers twined with Kousuke's, squeezing gently. _Then you'll always have me.  
_

Kousuke pulled back just enough to admire that rare expression on Eyes's face. It was, to his mind, the most incredible sight in the world, and as he had expected, the word 'beautiful' just didn't cut it. He felt his heart swelling in his chest with all the positive emotions around them, and sent a burst of love towards the other, wrapping it around Eyes like a blanket. 

A soft sigh left the other's lips and he closed his eyes to drink in the feeling of being so well taken care of. This was what he'd wanted to feel like. It made the attempts at surviving this long that much more rewarding. 

The warmth of those emotions continued to hold him, even as Kousuke finally gave in to the pressure of their physical needs and sped up the pace of his thrusts once more. The cat spirit could feel how close both of them were, and while his body screamed for release, he hoped to be able to hold it off long enough to watch Eyes fall over that edge. 

And the result was well worth the wait, especially when Eyes screamed his name in a desperate release. His face went slack with pleasure, body trembling and pulsing around Kousuke's as his darkened gaze focused on the redhead for a few intense moments. He spilled in a white-hot rush, panting breathlessly as it shook him for several moments. Instinctively, he clenched tightly as he rode the waves, hips rocking in abandon. 

The sight and feel of that straining body as it drowned in pleasure was more than enough to send Kousuke into his own climax, letting out the other boy's name in a primal yowl as everything but ecstasy and the blue fire of the other's gaze faded out of existence. He thought he might have blacked out for a second, because next thing he knew, he was slumped over the musician, panting for breath and holding him so tightly that he was surprised that ribs weren't cracking. 

For a moment, all Eyes had seen was a blinding light behind his closed lids. He didn't know how long he lay there recovering, but he could feel Kousuke's tight hold, and was surprised that he held on just as tight. Luckily enough, they weren't hurting each other, yet both had seemed to need to hold on, clinging desperately. "Kousuke...?" Eyes dared to whisper, only after the roaring of his own blood calmed some.' 

"Mmmm..." the redhead replied drowsily. Now that he was calming down, he felt flat out exhausted and totally spent. The only things keeping him from passing out cold were the belief that it was extremely crass to just roll over and go to sleep, and that his shoulder hurt like hell. He'd overused it, but it didn't seem to have started bleeding again, so he ignored it in favor of assuring Eyes that his brains had not all turned to mush and dribbled out his ears in the last five seconds. "That was...incredible." 

"Yes..." Eyes had wanted to give some of the same sentiment, but the redhead had beaten him to it. Incredible didn't seem to be the right word, but even as he tried to think of one, he was beginning to think there might not be any word that summed up what they'd just experienced. "You...are incredible." 

"Right back at'cha," Kousuke replied, lifting his head to look at the musician with eyes that held both awe and joyous wonder. "You smiled. I'd wondered what it would look like, to see you really smile. It made this whole disgusting week worth surviving." 

At that, Eyes both laughed and blushed. "Surely there was more than just me that made it worth surviving..." He couldn't believe that all that emotion Kousuke seemed to be feeling was directly related to him. He couldn't think of an instance where he'd ever brought that sort of contentment to anyone's life. 

Kousuke pretended to think about that. "Well, there _was_ the sudden discovery of Ayumu's Web, but...nah. He's disqualified for taking altogether too much pleasure out of jamming those hard little knuckles into my shoulder. So, it's all you." 

Eyes nuzzled his face into Kousuke's shoulder. "Thank you." 

Kousuke shook his head, nuzzling at the soft white hair. "I should really be the one thanking you...for everything." He meant it, too. The thanks held a lot of weight, being not only for the night, but for the acceptance of his feelings, the trust given to let the redhead be in control, and even the simple act of still believing in him once the programming had been revealed as the fake it was. At the moment, a great deal of Kousuke's world revolved around Eyes. 

It was unusual to have that kind of pull on someone. At best, he'd only experienced such a thing from Kousuke's end of the spectrum, and from that point, it was a little frightening. Seeing now that it could have so much of a positive effect made it a little less scary and something to be appreciated. Though it was strange to be so much the centre of someone's world, he was willing to try out the role for both his and Kousuke's sakes.

"You're welcome. I should also thank you for everything as well." By that, he meant that no matter how much Kousuke professed to believing their fate couldn't be changed, he still stayed by Eyes's side and in his own way had faith in him. 

Kousuke grinned. "No prob. Someone's gotta keep your pasty ass out of trouble. And I'm pretty good at dealing with trouble." He yawned, and tried again to fight off sleep. He was a little reluctant to see this moment end. 

"It's okay to sleep," Eyes murmured, stifling a yawn of his own. "I'm not going to vanish before you wake up." 

"Promise?" the redhead asked. "I'm going to be very annoyed if you're not here in the morning. And then I shall take my revenge by replacing all of your black leather with pink taffeta." 

"I would have to kill you then," Eyes mock-threatened, curling up and hugging Kousuke closer to him. "But I'll be here. I have a feeling we'll both be sleeping in tomorrow." 

Kousuke snuggled close, nuzzling and purring like an affectionate kitten. "If they're smart, _everyone_ will be sleeping in tomorrow. I saw how flat Ayumu looked." 

Eyes actually reached up and scritched Kousuke behind a furry ear. "He's exhausted. I really think he could have done with an extra few days of sleep, but we all wanted you out." 

If he had been any less spent, that one thing would have been enough to get him up for another round. As it was, he shivered and gave a breathy little mew as he leaned into the touch. "I don't blame him, but...mmm...at the same time, I kinda wish you'd tied him to the bed for longer..." 

"I really don't think he was ready for that." Eyes shifted to the other ear, rubbing it gently. He laughed quietly. "As it was, I think we scared him thoughtless. One hardly ever sees him at such a loss." 

The redheaded Blade Child had gone completely limp, flopped over Eyes and buzzing up a storm. "He'll get used to it. He's adaptable. I'm just hoping he actually thinks about what we told him instead of shoving it to the back of his mind for however long. Because if he takes more than two months, I'll probably lose all patience and just plant a big sloppy wet one on him." 

"Wouldn't be any worse than my copping a feel at the piano, now would it?" Eyes shook his head, gently shifting them so that he could reach to pull the blanket over them. They could worry about cleaning up in the morning. Right now, sleep was most important. 

If nothing else, Kousuke's body agreed with that sentiment, because no matter how much the redhead had fought it, he was still asleep by the time Eyes had finished with the blankets, one hand tangled possessively in the long strands of Eyes's hair. 

Eyes lay awake for as long as he could after Kousuke had fallen asleep, content to hear the sound of the other's relaxed breathing and more than happy with being in the circle of his arms. In one very stark moment, he realized that this was exactly the kind of life he wanted to live. He'd always said that Blade Children had been denied true life...well this was true life, and Kousuke had claimed to love him. He had just found one of the best reasons why he didn't want to be denied any longer. With renewed resolve, the silver-haired boy let himself drift off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 9/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: After a night to remember, Kousuke and Eyes are informed that trouble is coming to town for a visit.

A/N: Much kudos to anyone who knows where we got the term for Ayumu's gift.

oooooo

Kanone gave a slight huff of annoyance as he read the report from one of his contacts. Despite his subtle—and anonymous—backing, Hunter Samantha had failed to remove Asazuki from Eyes's side. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, though. The stupid bitch had completely ignored the orders to terminate the redhead as quickly as possible, instead using the boy for experiments that she really had no business dabbling in. It had caused the early Awakening of a Blade Child that Kanone would prefer was dead, so as to no longer be able to seduce _his_ Eyes. And she'd somehow gotten the younger Narumi brother involved, as well, and he had somehow seen through her works and unraveled the whole thing.

The end result; one dead Hunter, an Awakened nekojin with both empathic and pyrokinetic abilities, Asazuki and Eyes even more disgustingly close than ever, and an odd mental link between Asazuki and Narumi Ayumu that was being described as a Web.

It was the last that troubled Kanone. He knew a great deal more about what exactly Blade Children were than even Eyes did, and he knew that a Web like that, if it was what he thought it could be, would make Asazuki immune to the Fate of the Blade Children. And that would not do. Blade Children were created for the express purpose of following their Fate. To eventually be shed of their current personalities and glory in the shedding of weak human blood, and then to take the place of those creatures as the new human race.

Perhaps a few, like Eyes, held to the childish dreams of avoiding Fate and living a normal life, but it was a foolish delusion. And perhaps Kanone had been remiss in his discipline of Eyes, by letting him follow that delusion for so long, but then, Kanone felt that he was kind to those he loved, and through that kindness he would let Eyes continue dreaming until his resistance weakened and Fate swallowed him whole. Even if it had meant that his beloved brother had strayed to one that was so far below him.

Kanone was disappointed in Eyes for that. Hadn't he taught him to always stay with those within his station? They were from the blood of royalty, human though it may be. Asazuki's bloodlines, however, were in no way pure. He was the stock of some half-breed nekojin woman who was born from some animal spirit in a land of barbarians and a man from dirty Japanese peasant stock. Add that the boy was an utter fool in all but mind games, and it became clear that he was totally unsuitable for someone as exalted as Eyes. That they continued to bond set Kanone's teeth on edge.

And both of them were suddenly focusing their gaze on the younger Narumi brother! The one who had somehow established a Web, and the sudden existence of such ability made the boy dangerous. Dangerous and puzzling.

For there should have been no way for such a mediocre being as Narumi Ayumu to do anything that could so dramatically change the future of Blade Children. The reports Kanone got from his spies and the letters he received from Eyes all said that the boy was nowhere near Kiyotaka's caliber. Sure, he had many of the same strengths, but each one was in far lesser amounts than his elder. At best, he was a pale imitation of Narumi Kiyotaka. And thus, he should never have been able to establish a Web, because even Kiyotaka had found the task impossible. It just was not one of the abilities he had. Mind Breakers were extremely rare, especially those with the kind of spiritual strength needed to be anchor to a Web. If Kiyotaka could not have held such strength, how could his little brother compare?

And then Kanone had a thought. What if, perhaps, the reason why Narumi Ayumu could never compare to Narumi Kiyotaka was not, in fact, a matter of less strength, but more the fact that he just _could not be_ compared to his elder brother? What if their strengths, their true spiritual strengths, were in entirely different areas? Like for instance, one being an amazing investigator and leader, but the other being a true Mind Breaker, waiting only for an Empath and a Telepath to complete him? Was _that_ what Kiyotaka had meant, when he said that Ayumu would surpass him to free the Blade Children?

Kanone gritted his teeth in extreme annoyance. If so, he had already found his Empath in Asazuki. And the telepathic genome ran through all Blade Children through Yaiba's bloodline. Finding one who was strong enough in the ability to become his other stabilizer on the Web would not be difficult. And the fact that Eyes was already drawn to the boy…

Kanone decided then and there to go and take a look at the Narumi boy himself. If he was truly a Mind Breaker, on the verge of creating the foundations of a Web for the Blade Children, then he was dangerous. And Kanone would not stand for such a destruction of Fate.

He would take care of this…personally.

ooooooo

Soft, shrill beeping lured Eyes out of a dreamless sleep, and it took a moment for him to realize that it was his own cell phone. Carefully peeling himself out of Kousuke's arms just enough to reach it on the bed table, he wondered if it was his agent calling with the next venue. He was due for a local performance in the next couple of days. He didn't even think to look at the caller ID, still a little groggy as he hit the button. 

"Rutherford," he said in a soft, sleep-husky tone. 

Kousuke peered out over the edge of the blankets, glaring at the annoying little piece of plastic in Eyes's hand that had taken his lover and current favorite body pillow out of reach. If this call turned out to be unimportant, that cell phone was going to the big phone booth in the sky. 

There was a small and chillingly familiar chuckle on the other side of the line. "Hello, Eyes. Did I wake you?" 

That chill seemed to freeze Eyes to the bone for a brief instant, and the musician knew he was awake now. He shrugged off the cool sensation, still within the warmth of Kousuke's bed, safe. "Yes. I was enjoying the luxury of sleeping in this morning." He glanced over at the clock to look at the time. 

The clock, perfectly generic except for all the random anime stickers on it, read 11 AM.

Kousuke had not stopped glaring at the phone. His sharpened hearing helped him to pick up the conversation, and he knew that voice almost as well as Eyes did. 

"So it would seem. But I needed to give you a call, and the lady I spoke to said this would be one of the few times you'd be free."

Eyes doubly cursed Kanone's charisma and his agent's all-too-pleasing personality. "Fortunately, she was correct." He settled into the pillows again, tugging the blankets back up, also inviting Kousuke closer again. He pressed a finger to his lips to indicate that the redhead shouldn't say anything while Kanone was on the line. "Is there something urgent?"

Kousuke tilted his head, then rolled onto his back and stretched, hands above his head and back moving into a smooth arch. Only after getting the kinks out of his spine did he come closer, still giving the phone dirty looks. The redhead did not wake up well at the best of times, and a Kanone wake up call was definitely not one of the best. 

"I wished to tell you that I will be coming to Japan for a visit. I've gotten some information that I want to confirm with my own eyes. Quite a bit of it seems to have to do with that redheaded boy you shelter, Asazuki." 

Eyes frowned, but if he was bothered by the words, it didn't show in his voice. It wasn't that he couldn't bother to be concerned; it was that he was too relaxed, and since Kousuke lay right there with him, it would be hard to feel threatened by anything Kanone was saying at the moment. "If you're talking about our ordeal with the Hunter, she's long gone, and so is the problem." 

"I'm a bit more interested in the events around her appearance, really. The report I got from my sources tells me he tried to betray you. And something about the younger Narumi establishing some sort of mental connection. I want to see this for myself, and if there may be a problem, deal with it." 

Kousuke wasn't sure why, but all his hackles went up at those words, and he let out a very soft growl.

Eyes reached out a comforting hand to stroke the soft, tousled red hair. Kousuke couldn't help it. He began to purr. "Is my judgment no longer up to your standards, Kanone? I know of no betrayal other than some false front the Hunter tried to portray." 

Kanone chuckled. "Not at all. I merely want to see things for myself and, admittedly, just see you again. It's been quite a while." He paused, hearing the rumbling over the phone, and grit his teeth to hide the anger. So a certain nekojin was already there... "Do I hear a cat, Eyes?" 

"You know my penchant for strays, Kanone. After all, did I not get it from you? You're the reason my pockets smell like fish flakes," Eyes agreed, but with no sentiment other than his relaxed tone. It bothered him that Kanone would be so close in his personal space, but he would deal with it when the time came. A smile touched his lips when Kousuke began to purr. "I shall make arrangements for your arrival then." 

"Ah. I shall have to meet this new addition, then. And I will look forward to seeing you again. Will finding space for me be possible? I've heard you've taken in some new ones." 

Kousuke tilted his head. New ones? So the other two Blade Children he sensed _were_ here! He'd have to go meet them eventually. After Eyes stopped petting him. Definitely after. 

"I can make arrangements for a room on the floor below mine. There is some private housing for those of us that have a share of the floors. The rooms are just as comfortable as they are here." Eyes didn't elaborate on the new Blade Children. Kanone would make his own judgments anyway. 

Kanone raised an eyebrow, not pleased with a certain omission. "Wouldn't it be easier if we just shared your room? After all, that's what we did last time, and you didn't complain." 

Kousuke stiffened and gave a silent hiss. He didn't want Kanone anywhere _near_ Eyes in such an intimate capacity! 

"Last time, I did not have nearly so much to handle at once. I would prefer my room to remain my own this time. I'm sure you understand." Eyes gently rubbed behind Kousuke's ears to once more calm the other boy.

Kousuke sucked in a shaky but thankfully silent breath, arching at that touch to his sensitive ears. Unlike last night, he was not totally spent to the last dregs, and thus had to keep a tight rein on himself to keep from draping over Eyes like...well, like a cat in heat. 

Kanone's eyes narrowed on the other side of the phone. He understood all too well, and it made him rather..._annoyed_. "Of course. A guest room will be quite suitable, I'm sure. If possible, I'll also want to take a look at the younger Narumi. I want to see what this supposed connection he has with Asazuki might be." 

"I'm afraid I can't speak for him," Eyes said. "I will be more than happy to introduce you; getting to know each other beyond introductions will be entirely between you two." As much as Eyes didn't want Ayumu near Kanone, he spoke the truth about choices. He wouldn't force the younger boy one way or another. He was adult enough to get involved and _stay_ involved, so he could be adult enough to make further decisions regarding the Blade Children without being influenced. 

Kousuke also didn't want Kanone near Ayumu. The connection of the Web between them and now Eyes seemed a little too personal to just lay open to someone like Kanone, who most of them feared and only barely trusted. Deciding to distract himself before he got annoyed enough at Kanone to yell, ruining the story of having a cat in the room and not a lover, the redhead looked around for something to do. He found it in the tousled state of Eyes's hair. Since it was so fine, it tangled easily, especially in the mornings. Regretfully pulling away from the petting, the nekojin reached for his bedside table, carefully opening the drawer and quietly rummaging until he found a brush. 

"I'll look forward to that introduction. Besides, he'll probably want answers just as much as we do, ne?" Kanone replied. 

Eyes was quiet for a moment, the question distracting him from watching Kousuke's movements. "Do you intend to answer all of his questions? You know that Kiyotaka said there would be a time and a place." 

Kanone chuckled. "Don't worry yourself, Eyes. I will only give him such answers if the situation calls for it. Since that is hardly likely, I'm sure it will be left up to you to discern the proper time and place." 

Kousuke moved, managing to somehow worm himself into a position behind Eyes's back, and began to carefully brush that fall of silver-white silk. His tail moved to twine around the musician's waist in an unconsciously possessive gesture.

For a brief moment, Eyes started at the sudden feel of something in his hair. Then he let out his breath in an almost silent sigh, tipping his head back a little. "I'm glad we're in agreement. I can't say that I was worried. You're usually good at listening to reason." _When it suits you_, he thought to himself, but didn't feel he should add. 

Kanone chuckled, but it was to mask the sudden rage he felt at the relaxation and gentle pleasure he heard enter Eyes's voice. He didn't know what Asazuki was doing, but it was clear that the redhead was touching things that did not belong to him. "I'm not so rash as to upset the careful balance of your plans. If you feel the Narumi boy isn't ready, then he most likely isn't. But I must know, just how strong is that supposed connection between him and Asazuki? And has it affected anyone else?"

"Whatever connection they might have had doesn't seem to have changed Little Narumi very much that I've noticed, so I'm not sure how strong it is." Though his words were carefully chosen, Eyes sounded very natural in what he said. He always had to mind what he let Kanone know, and he did his best not to let the tender care of Kousuke's grooming make him less wary of the other man. "As for the others, it doesn't seem to have affected them at all." 

Eyes was hiding something, Kanone could tell. He knew the musician better than any other, and thus could tell when he tried to hide things. It was in the split-second pause before he made a statement, and the ever so slightly tight tone that could not be hidden by any sort of physical relaxation. "Is that so? Still, I shall be quite eager to look for myself." His wording was just as carefully planned, a tactful way of telling Eyes that his own careful choice of half-truth had not gone unnoticed. 

A game of words. Eyes was familiar with this dance, though he didn't play it often. Kanone was far too intelligent to play around with, and Eyes knew that. In a way, they were almost equals, which made them much better off as friends instead of enemies. But Eyes's choice to fight Fate felt like it would turn those tables to the latter regardless of all the social pleasantries they exchanged. "As you wish, Kanone," Eyes murmured. 

Another soft chuckle came over the line. "Hearing you say that brings back pleasant memories. That was what you said our first night together." 

Kousuke grit his teeth and gripped the handle of the brush, trying to control himself. _Must...not...mangle...phone...  
_

The memory of that exact moment flashed behind Eyes's closed lids, and his body stiffened. His breath stilled for only a moment, long enough for his heartbeat to sound like a pounding storm in his ears. He hoped that Kousuke would stay quiet, knew that Kanone was trying to rouse one of them, if not both of them. "I'm surprised you remember," Eyes replied when he'd collected his scattered thoughts. 

"Of course. I remember every detail of the night I claimed you as mine." Kanone savored that tiny hitch in breath, and the way that the relaxation from whatever Asazuki had been doing vanished instantly from that melodic voice. _He's still mine. So long as his heart fears me and his body answers to my commands, he's still mine. And I will finish any that threaten my ownership.  
_

Kousuke was not about to blow his cover of being a simple adopted housecat, no matter how much he wanted to grab the phone and give that evil bastard a piece of his mind. He knew better. Angering someone as powerful and intelligent as Kanone was dangerous and potentially lethal. 

Eyes cursed his weak reaction and quickly fought to regain his composure. It would take him a little bit of time to be as relaxed as he was before the call, but he would reach it if Kousuke helped him. He wondered if this made the redhead think less of him. No matter how much he denied Fate, and all that Kanone defended, he still had yet to cut all the strings he had to the other Blade Child. He just wished he could do it faster... "Shame that my memory isn't as clear." Eyes had tried to forget that night the moment he'd decided to leave Kanone. "I'll prepare everything for your arrival and make sure you have transportation. I assume you'll be landing in Narita?" Eyes absently curled the fingers of one hand in the soft fur of the tail around his waist, thankful Kousuke hadn't pulled away yet. 

Nor did he. Kousuke could tell even without his newly awakened empathic ability that Eyes needed him close. Instead, he put the brush down so that he could wrap his arms around the pale torso in a protective embrace, nuzzling gently at the snowy mane of Eyes's hair. 

"Yes. I'll be arriving tomorrow at six in the evening. Will I see you there?" 

Tomorrow was too soon. Way too soon. Eyes kept his voice amazingly steady. "I will try and get out of my concert rehearsal for you." 

Kanone's smile, predatory and sharp around the edges, could actually be heard through the phone. "I'm sure you'll manage. I'd be rather...disappointed, otherwise."  
Kousuke grit his teeth, his hold on Eyes tightening. _I will not kill him I will not kill him he'd mop the floor with me and use my pelt as a bath towel I will not kill him I will not kill him but GOD it's tempting!  
_

Those sharp edges prickled along Eyes's skin, and he leaned a little more than he wanted to against Kousuke. "We can't have that now, can we? I'll see you tomorrow at six, Kanone." 

"Yes, you will. And say hello to the others for me. And tell Asazuki that I'll especially want to talk to him." 

Kousuke's tail went bottle-brush. 

Eyes stroked the tail gently, but his hand was shaking. "I will. Goodbye Kanone." 

"Goodbye, Eyes." There was a soft click, and the line went dead. 

Kousuke sighed unhappily. "Somehow, I've got the sinking suspicion that the next few days are going to suck." 

Eyes's answer to that was to hurl the phone so hard across the room it bounced off the wall and skittered across the floor. Bowing his head, he clenched his fists on his thighs, trying to ignore the trembling in his body, or at least make it less noticeable. Weak. He felt so _weak_, and that was not a feeling that Eyes Rutherford was accustomed too. He felt a ripple of anger run through him. Not just at Kanone, but at himself for letting Kanone get to him. 

Kousuke watched the tremors run through those narrow shoulders sadly, reaching to cover the pale fisted hands with his own, twining their fingers together before lifting them and wrapping both his and Eyes's arms around the musician in a tight hug. 

"I'm sorry," was all his pride would allow him to say out loud. His throat was thick with the emotion he'd been holding back for so long, his own shame in himself, and a little bit of the fear that this weakness would make Kousuke doubt him. 

"Don't be," Kousuke murmured, laying his head on the pale boy's shoulder. "Kanone scares all of us, and we don't even have as much reason to be scared as you do. It'd take a hell of a lot worse than just normal survival instincts to give you anything that needed apology." 

"It seems unfair for me to ask for your loyalty when I can barely stand up to him myself. That...took all I had. And every encounter after it just might, as well." He didn't want to live like that. He wanted to be stronger, make his own Blade Children stronger. 

The redhead gave another unhappy sigh and kissed the pulse at the base of Eyes's throat, a chaste brushing of lips. "And I can't do anything to help you. I won't be able to come near you while he's here, or he'll find out about us. And something tells me that he wouldn't be particularly thrilled." 

"No... He won't." Eyes tightened his fingers between Kousuke's, not wanting to let go. "But as long as you don't give up on me... You are helping." 

Kousuke squeezed back. "Hey, what did I tell you? I love you, Eyes. I'm going to stick by you, no matter how hard it makes things or how dangerous it gets. Because..._not_ loving you would be even harder..."

Eyes took a very slow deep breath, and whether it was to still himself from the unsettling call or the words that Kousuke admitted once more, no one could be sure. Not even Eyes himself. "Thank you." Finding the right thing to say after such an admission was too difficult to think about at the moment, and the pianist was already trying to think of how he was going to handle having Kanone in his face starting as soon as the next day. He wasn't looking forward to it, especially not with the kind of week they were already having.

Kousuke smiled at the thanks, nuzzling at that soft white hair. "By the way, since I know you'll probably guilt yourself about it if I don't say it, it's okay if you don't return my feelings. It's enough that you care." 

"Forgive me for forgetting just how perceptive you really are, Kousuke," Eyes said, turning his head just enough to nuzzle back. 

"Eh, not perceptive. I just know how you think." Kousuke replied softly, before moving from nuzzling to catch Eyes's lips in a light kiss.

Eyes frowned a little before returning the gesture. "That in itself can be a little intimidating." 

The redhead chuckled. "What? It's not like I'd use that knowledge for something evil!" He paused suddenly, eyes speculative. "Or at least, not often..." 

The silver-haired teen knew what sense to take such a threat in, and he flushed only slightly. "I'm going to hold you to that." 

Kousuke just grinned. "Hai, hai. Besides, I don't think playing pranks on you would be all that wise. Who knows what you'd do in retaliation?" 

"Let's just say that you don't want to know, and leave it at that." It was an idle threat, but more of one made to amuse than to actually threaten. 

The redheaded Blade Child chuckled, laying his head back on Eyes's shoulder, perfectly content now that the call from Kanone was over. "Most likely. So now, to keep you from formulating ideas in how to punish me for evil behavior, I shall ask a question. Do you get the first shower, or do I?" 

Eyes made a show of actually thinking about it for a moment before shaking his head. "You can have it first." 

"You sure? I know you hate being dirty, and after last night's events, we're both more than a little sweaty and...um..._stained_." Kousuke absently noted that tact was not his forte, and that he had no future as a diplomat. Just as well. Diplomats had to dress up and all that crap. 

Better to leave the tact to Eyes, who was brought back to the grim reality by those words. "I'm sure. I know you won't take long," he reassured the redhead. "I can stand being a little dirty since I don't take that luxury often." 

Kousuke nodded. "Cool. Why don't you get a little more sleep in the meantime? My bed's not the tribute to hedonism yours is, but it's nice enough." Reluctantly, he let go of the other boy and slid out from behind him, standing carefully with the help of the bed table for balance. 

Eyes's brow furrowed. He wouldn't have immediately considered himself a hedonist, but he could see where the assumption could be made by the way his bedroom looked. He nodded and curled up on top of the covers, grabbing at one of the extras at the foot of the bed and tugging it around his slender, pale shoulders. 

Kousuke turned to take a last look at the young man burrowed into his bed, and smiled. Sure, things were probably going to go to hell in a hand basket once Kanone arrived, but for now, life seemed about as perfect as it ever got.


	10. Chapter 10

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 10/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Ayumu gets some answers for a very unexpected reason.

ooooo

It was near noon when Ayumu dragged himself out of bed again. He couldn't really say he felt rested, no matter how comfortable Rutherford's bed was. Since the nightmare had woken he and Kousuke, and that very odd span of time afterwards, he'd felt uneasy, as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself, much less what to do about the Blade Children that seemed to be taking up his entire existence lately. He had to wonder if this was what it had been like for Kiyotaka to know them. Had they been this close and this confusing that all the circumstances had just driven him to leave and find out whatever it was that made things the way they were? Ayumu found himself thinking just a little that he couldn't blame his older brother, even if he did resent him for it. The boy bristled. He wasn't going to run away, and in this he was firm. It might actually be the first thing he could hold over his brother's head.

Nodding to himself, he stretched and let out a yawn as he padded towards the hallway. Today would be the day he went home and slept in his own home, in his own bed, with his own peace and quiet. Madoka was going to be pissed when she got home, but if he got there before she made it back from work today, he might be able to crawl into bed without being noticed until the following morning. Firm plan in mind, he set out to find out what Eyes Rutherford kept in his kitchen.

All plans were temporarily derailed when he opened the door. Sitting cross-legged in the hall was Kousuke, wearing nothing but a towel tied loosely around his waist, and another over his head, with one damp red ear poking out from under it. Water beaded along the long crimson tail and over the exotically spotted skin, suggesting the redhead was fresh from the shower. He still looked half-starved, and the spots did little to hide the marks of torture and mistreatment from the lab, but at least the shoulder wound had been bandaged. He was holding one of the Hunter's files open in his lap, expression grave as he read the contents, absently tapping at the side of the folder with one clawed finger.

It took Ayumu a few moments to realize that he was staring, and when he finally did, he coughed and looked away. Unfortunately, that made his presence known, and he cursed his half-awake state for letting the sight of Kousuke catch him off guard. He couldn't remember if he'd seen feline features last night, but he was at war with whether to admire the new changes or wish that Rio had killed the Hunter a little more slowly. Even though he had a very shaky trust of the Blade Children, that didn't stop him from thinking that what had been done to Kousuke was not humane.

Kousuke even blinked in a catlike fashion now, both eyes closing and opening in a smooth and gradual movement. Slitted green-gold eyes glanced at the brunette, and then turned back to the papers and photos in his hands. "Yo, Ayumu. Sleep okay? Eyes's mattress didn't try to eat you?"

"No, but all the blankets tried, I think," the boy responded, running a hand through hair that was even more mussed than usual. "What about you?" He wasn't going to bring up the strange little get-together they'd had last night unless Kousuke did.

Kousuke finally looked up at him and gave a pale imitation of his usual grin, but at least it was there. He still looked tired, the shadowed rings under his eyes not that much better than last night. "Eh, fairly well, once I stopped being so wired from the nightmare. It was a good thing that Eyes was there to help me calm down, or I'd probably have been awake all night, no matter how exhausted I was."

"Mm." Ayumu nodded as if he agreed with what Kousuke was saying without really understanding it. He had a vague grasp of what had happened last night, and from the looks of it, he was somewhere in the middle and not sure how he'd gotten there. "At least it was just a nightmare and not something real." _Yet_... he couldn't help thinking, and he wondered where that little thought had come from.

_Oh, it was real all right..._ But telling Ayumu that would probably just unnerve the brunette more, so Kousuke didn't voice his thoughts. Besides, there was something else he figured he should do. After all, he owed Ayumu a great deal, and he didn't like letting debts pile up. "Ne, Ayumu. C'mere. I want to talk to you before the others wake up and start the normal chaos for the day."

Amber eyes blinked at Kousuke, but Ayumu came over and leaned against the wall, sliding down so that he was sitting next to the Blade Child. "What is it?" As usual, his mind was at work, trying to figure out what the other boy could possibly want to talk about that required quiet. Quiet didn't seem to be something Kousuke was familiar with.

Kousuke looked at him for a long moment, obviously gathering his thoughts, before giving a deep sigh. "Last night...Eyes smiled at me...a real, true smile...for the first time. And I got to hear him laugh. And the ultimate cause of him feeling free enough to do that was your Web, whether you believe me or not. So for that, more than even saving my life, I owe you. So I'll tell you a few hints about the Blade Children. Not much, because Eyes _will_ skin me if I give it all away before he thinks you're ready, but I can give you some things to think about."

Ayumu took a deep breath, having the sinking feeling that he wasn't going to like what he heard, but that thought was countered by the good things that Kousuke had said. Eyes Rutherford had smiled? The younger Narumi found that a little hard to believe. Not even when he was doing what he seemed to love, playing the piano, had he ever seen the musician even twitch his lips. To think that Kousuke held him accountable for showing such emotion...it was a little strange, and quite unexpected.

Kousuke chuckled softly, his smile turning a little wry. "Don't feel gratified yet. What I tell you is likely just going to make you more confused, because it's out of context. Like riddles from hell."

"I already know you're good at that," Ayumu said, letting out that breath in a long sigh. "You're hard to understand as it is, I should only expect consistency."

Kousuke flipped him off, but didn't look particularly offended. But he soon settled and got down to business. "First of all, no matter where you go, or who you ask, you're going to find one thing in common between Blade Children. None of them can dream about their future. Eyes and I can, now, but we're going to have to get used to the idea before we do. Right now, no one else can do that."

"What's so important about that? It's not as if prophetic dreams are common, and even when they occur, the visions are short and unreliable They usually result in very small senses of deja vu." Ayumu ran a hand through his hair, trying to put it into some semblance of order.

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "Not like that! Lemme put it this way. What do you want to be when you grow up? Or just when you get out of high school?"

Ayumu blinked, shrugging a little. He really hadn't given it any thought. Soon, Madoka would be on his case, wanting him to find some kind of direction. These days, it was nice just to think a day ahead and still be alive. "I dunno... I guess I never thought about it much."

Kousuke nodded. "The difference between you and us is that we _can't_. We have no future."

Frowning very seriously, Ayumu turned his head to look Kousuke in the eyes. "Look, I'm not stupid. I saw the men with guns; I saw the building that was nothing but explosives and traps. I know that whatever you guys are into, it's a life or death situation. But I don't believe that you have no future, and obviously, you all don't either, no matter what you say. If you all didn't believe that you had a future, you would have let the first Hunter who pointed a gun at you shoot you dead and nothing would have changed." His expression was challenging. "You'll keep fighting as long as you believe you have something worth fighting for, and the future is more than just what someone is going to be when they grow up, or what they'll do in the next five years, two years, next week. Your future is every second beyond this one; it's every breath you take, every single thing you lay your eyes on. If you guys didn't have a future, you wouldn't still be alive."

"What we fight for _is_ that future, Ayumu. And there's only a very few of us who do. Sure, there's something _in_ the future for us, but it won't be _us_ who live what is Fated, if it happens. That's why we need you." Kousuke mentally sighed. He knew Ayumu wasn't going to understand, and probably wouldn't until Eyes gave him the whole fucking story. But the details _might_ get the brunette to start thinking along the correct lines enough not to be too shocked later.

"You need me. I'm slowly getting that impression. So all those grand schemes to try and kill me were just meant to test me and make sure that you really did need me?" Ayumu looked away and shook his head.

"They were meant to test you to see if you were strong enough. The number of Blade Children that I currently know of that want to change Fate are...five, counting the two from the lab. The rest, so far as I know, all believe that they have to follow Fate, no matter what. And you're a threat to that."

"A dual purpose. Test and preparation." Closing his eyes, Ayumu bowed his head and let the hair fall so that it hid the little crease between his brows that appeared when he was thinking too much. "But what does it matter to them? If they believe in this...Fate...and they outnumber you, why should they care what you few do so long as it doesn't affect them. You're not out to get them, are you?"

Kousuke shook his head. "Hell no. I like living, thanks. And explaining it would be going into territory that Eyes would not approve. I've never seen Eyes really mad, and I'm not going to be the one to make it happen." Kousuke shrugged. "Second hint, you'll never find a Blade Child that really knows his or her dad."

Ayumu didn't raise his head, but under the curtain of his hair, his expression became even more perplexed. "Not a single one? What kind of resources are you going from? The small group here or have you known others that don't side with you that don't 'have' a father?"

"From Kanone and Eyes. And Kiyotaka." Kousuke replied. "They're the ones who looked, and have the network. And no Blade Child has ever really known a father."

Ayumu's mind was already working again. Did their Fate have something to do with all of their missing fathers? "That's...confusing... but okay. It's something to think about.'

Kousuke nodded. "I warned you that most of this would just confuse you more. Now, the third and last bit of info before Eyes wakes up and does the whole 'Death From Above' thing for me saying anything. Do you remember what the Hunter called me? Back when we first got into this butt wipe of a week?"

Ayumu reached up and rubbed his temples, finally sitting back to lean against the wall once more. "Not at the moment, no... but I just woke up with a lot of information to process. Remind me?"

"She called me a living weapon, and said that as such, I have no need or right to feel concern for innocents."

The brunette was quiet for several long moments. He had a single thought in mind, but he wouldn't voice it for fear that he might be right. "I see," he murmured after the silence. "So the Hunters understand your Fate and that's why they're hunting you in the first place. It's a threat to those that aren't Blade Children."

Kousuke nodded. "Yup. Your third hint is that on most--but not all--levels, the Hunter was right. And if things keep going as they are, she'll have been right on _all_ levels."

_So... the Fate has something to do with the loss of their consciousness. After all, 'living weapons' don't need emotions or dreams of the future. They don't seem to know exactly when Fate is coming, but somehow, they think that I'm going to stop it. But I don't know the hows or the whys... and if they won't tell me until the right time, what if that time is too late? _Ayumu had his head back against the wall, his eyes closed, brow furrowed in that way that betrayed how hard he was thinking, even if the rest of his expression seemed careless.

Since Ayumu's eyes were closed, Kousuke took that moment to do some shameless staring, admiring the brunette across from him. He was as beautiful as Eyes, though in a totally different way. Eyes had a very classical type of beauty, elegant, smooth and a little cold. Like a gemstone. Ayumu, however, held his beauty in the homey fashion, scruffy, cute and surprisingly warm. Just the comparison was enough to keep Kousuke puzzling at it for hours, if he let himself.

"Thank you," Ayumu said quietly. "You were right about it making things just as confusing as they were before, but I have more to go on than I did a week ago, so it's better than nothing."

The redhead shrugged, picking up the file he'd been reading. A glance showed it to actually be his own file, and it was currently turned to one of the more graphically described experiments. Still, it didn't seem to affect Kousuke too much, beyond his expression hardening just a little. "Like I said, I owed you. And I hate to let debts sit. Interest is a bitch."

"That it is." Ayumu stood up, glancing down for a moment, curiously watching how easily Kousuke was reading his own file. "How can you do that?"

"Huh? Do what?" Kousuke asked, looking up at him and giving another of those slow confused blinks that just seemed so feline. Then he blinked again, trying to get the hair out of his eyes. He'd need to get a haircut soon. His bangs were beginning to get in his eyes and obscure vision.

"Your files. Doesn't it bother you to read about all that they did?" It bothered Ayumu just seeing the physical evidence. He would think that if it was his own record, all he'd have to do is look in a mirror and know all that he ever needed too. He didn't know if he could handle knowing the complete details.

"Oh, that." Kousuke shrugged again, outwardly unconcerned, but a slightly haunted look hovered at the back of those green-gold cat slits. "Sure, it's a little disturbing, but when I first picked it up, I didn't know what was in it. I just saw this stack of files sitting out in the open and got curious, so I picked up the one on the top. And now...well, it's kind of like a train wreck. It's disturbing, but you can't look away. Besides, it's probably best if I know as much as I can about what was done to me, just in case problems crop up later."

"You're going to be fine," the teen said with confidence that normally wasn't present in his voice. He thought briefly that it was strange that he had more faith in the Blade Children than he had in himself. That might have had something to do with the fact that they'd been fighting this for so long, and he'd only had a slice of it and wasn't sure he could keep up for long.

And for once, it seemed to be Kousuke who was lacking in confidence. Hadn't Rio warned about this? "Maybe, maybe not. All of a sudden, I've got a bunch of new instincts and abilities that I know nothing about. Sure, they're under control now, but my reserves are low. What happens later, when I'm at full strength, and I get hurt or sick? What sort of things are okay for a human, but dangerous for a nekojin and vice versa? With this sudden ability to sense emotions, will I be able to kill others, despite probably _feeling_ it as they die? Or will I be totally unable, even if it means my own life is forfeit?"

"There are some things that a logical answer won't give you, Kousuke," Ayumu said, pushing his hands into his pockets and looking down at the other boy. "I've learned that much in the last few weeks. But if you want a logical answer, I would say that only experience will tell you what you need to know. You've taken the first step to learning, which isn't even something I think I could do. The rest comes with trial, error, and someone who knows a lot about cats."

Kousuke shook his head. "Heh...that last one's going to be tricky. Blade Children don't generally keep pets. It's too dangerous to outwardly show affection to something like that, for fear that someone will use it against you. And I know Eyes _likes_ cats, but he's never kept one." That crimson tail was lashing around anxiously, and Kousuke speared it with a small glare. That was one thing he'd definitely have to get used to. That stupid tail seemed to have a mind of its own!

Ayumu smirked. "I'll give a look into 'Hiyono's Data' for you or something. I'm sure girls know something about cats..."

Kousuke shuddered. "No thanks. The Hiyono-girl drives me bonkers. I'll do my own research. I am _not_ owing favors to some crazy girl who punches with stuffed animals."

That got the other boy to smile a little wider. "I'm going to make some breakfast before I go home."

Kousuke would have replied to that, but was prevented by a loud squeal of excitement as Rio tackled Ayumu from behind.

"You're going to cook?! Wonderful!" she exclaimed, attaching herself the poor stunned brunette.

"Gah!!!" It was mere luck and the fact that Rio didn't weigh all that much that kept him from falling flat on his face. "Uh...I am if Rutherford keeps something worth cooking in his kitchen here..." He thought Hiyono had a bad habit of popping up from out of nowhere...it must have been something all girls could do.

"Of course! He's got the near-impossible task of keeping Kousuke fed, after all! He's got everything except melons!" she bubbled.

Kousuke sweatdropped. "Rio, you're scaring me with just how perky you are. Is his cooking really _that_ big a deal? And how long are you going to hang off him like that, anyway?"

Rio blinked, noticing Kousuke for the first time, and suddenly let go of Ayumu to turn on a new target. "Kousuke! What are you doing out of bed?! You look like crap and _should_ be resting! But no, you're sitting in the halls, haven't even tried to eat, and are mostly naked, to boot! Haven't you ever heard of decency?"

Kousuke crossed his arms and sulked. "I was reading some of the Hunter's files, I don't _feel_ hungry, and of course I know decency. I've got towels, don't I?"

"Don't give me that! If you don't feel hungry, that just means your body has forgotten what it's like to be full! Baka! And towels do not count as decent when there's guests around! Were you raised by wolves?!"

"Well, a cat actually, if the Hunter was right..."

"That's not the point! And furthermore--" Rio suddenly paused, staring at Kousuke in a way that made the redhead very nervous, and he squirmed a little under her gaze.  
"What are you staring at?" he asked suspiciously.

Rio's eyes narrowed. "You're glowing. You got laid last night, didn't you?"

"Na-nani?!" Kousuke sputtered, going bright red. Had she figured out what was between him and Eyes?!

Rio smirked. "I'm right! You did get laid! Idiot, you shouldn't be doing things like that in your condition! Who is she? And how the hell did you get a woman past Eyes in the first place? Is he locked in a closet somewhere?! Gods, you're sick!"

Kousuke had gone redder and redder with each word, unable to form a reply past the embarrassed sputtering. Rio was proud of herself. She loved teasing Kousuke about his 'secret' relationship with Eyes. She was _definitely_going to have to ask Jhette to wire the rooms for her.

Ayumu nearly choked on air as she came right out and said it, turning a bright red as he quickly remembered being sandwiched between them. What had he really come between?

Rio planted her hands on her hips, looking for all the world like an annoyed school teacher. "Well, you'd better not do anything like that again, Kousuke! Think of the security risks! Not to mention those to your own health! If you're just picking up girls from the street and smuggling them in, how do you know where they've been?"

"RIO!!! I have NOT been picking up girls! You _know_ I'm gay!" Kousuke shouted, now utterly mortified.

"So you snuck in some random guy?"

"NO!"

"Then who? Hey...don't tell me you were playing around with Jhette...?" Admittedly, that was impossible, but Kousuke wasn't going to know that.

"NO! And who the heck is that, anyway?!" Kousuke wished the floor would swallow him right that second.

"I think you've interrogated him quite enough, Rio," Eyes's voice said from Kousuke's doorway. His elven features were tinted a very light shade of pink, but otherwise, he wore his usual indifferent expression. He had picked up Kousuke's over-sized green shirt from the floor and now wore it over his pale frame, leaning in the doorframe. "I think that Kousuke knows how to avoid unnecessary risks."

Ayumu put his face in his hands and wandered quietly to the kitchen. Maybe he could get away without being dragged into this elaborate production the Blade Children were getting into.

Rio gaped for a moment, and then suddenly squealed in delight! "This is great! I was wondering when you two would come out of the closet!"

"Rio..." Kousuke groaned, burying his face in his hands and slumping against the wall. Even his tail and ears had gone limp.

Rio just gave a happy sigh. "This is so cool. I'll definitely have to install cameras now."

"Over my dead body!"

"Wow...do you think Eyes would be into that?" she asked, her tone falsely innocent.

"RIO!!!!"

"That's _enough_." Eyes reached down and rubbed gently at one ear to reassure Kousuke, though he was a little flustered himself. "Rio, you can be pleased all you like, but you know better than to make a big deal out of this. Attachments are dangerous. Have your little celebration and then let it go." His expression was almost pleading with the young woman. "Especially since we're about to have some unexpected company."

Rio chuckled and nodded. "Hai. I'm just glad you two found each other. All the tiptoeing was beginning to drive me nuts. By the way, may I say that Kousuke's actually rather cute when he's purring?" And the redhead was, leaning happily into the touch on his ears as always.

"You may," Eyes murmured, looking down at Kousuke for a wistful moment. "After this, nothing can be said. You'll want to be on your guard."

The girl's smile faded into a look of concern. "Is something bad going to happen?"

"Mph...nothing much. Just his Great and Powerful Bastard-sama coming to visit tomorrow." Kousuke muttered.

Rio looked confused.

Eyes answered in one word. "Kanone."

Rio paled. "Why is he coming here?"

Kousuke grimaced. "He wants to look into the mess with the Hunter and its results. I am _so_ not looking forward to this. Especially since he wants to talk to me and Ayumu."

"Do you think that he knows what Ayumu might be?" Riku joined them, standing behind Rio with her arms crossed. She had just woken up herself, her long thick hair messily thrown up into a bun and held together with a couple of sticks. "It's understandable why he'd want to speak to Kousuke-san, but... the Hope?"

Kousuke looked up at her curiously before shrugging. "He _says_ he wants to talk to him about the mental connection we've got. Beyond that, who knows how that guy thinks?"

Rio looked concerned. "Eyes-kun...will you be all right?"

Eyes tilted his head in her direction, almost a curious brand of indifferent now. "I've dealt with Kanone for many years, Rio. Why wouldn't I be?"

Rio shook her head. "I don't know...just a bad feeling. It's almost like dark clouds looming on the horizon. Kanone scares me, and when he's around, things just seem to get more complicated."

"And now you understand why I want what you've discovered this morning kept quiet."

Rio nodded. "I promise. Who knows what he'd do if he found out?"

"Data does not compute," said the mechanical voice of Jhette, his image appearing next to Kousuke. "What is a 'Kanone'? If it is a danger, should I defend this place from it?"

"GAH!" Kousuke yelped, all his hair standing on end in startlement as he leapt to his feet. "What the hell?!"

"Request unclear. Insufficient information to answer query." Jhette replied, looking at the redhead.

"Calm down, it's just Jhette. You didn't get a chance to meet him yet." Riku turned to Eyes. "He poses a good question. Just who the hell is Kanone, and what makes him so dangerous?"

Eyes let out a quiet sigh. "He's the one who trained us to use our strengths against the Hunters. However, he believes that Fate is what we all should believe in and nothing else. He's casual about it, but my opposition to his beliefs causes a...conflict of interest."

"That's one way of putting it," Kousuke muttered. He was still staring at Jhette, obviously trying to figure the guy out. Like why he had absolutely no scent and his emotions felt faded and distant, for example.

Jhette just blinked. "I still do not understand. Rio says she fears him. Kousuke also acts in a way that implicates such. Is one man truly so terrifying?"

"He can be," Eyes explained. "As one who believes in Fate, he has many allies. He's very clever and more ruthless than he lets on." He turned and looked in the direction of the kitchen, where they could hear Ayumu clattering away at the pans and dishes.

"And," Kousuke added, "even though he doesn't look it, he could probably mop the floor with any one of us. I've never seen him _do_ it, but he's just got that kind of aura, y'know?"

"Define 'aura'. Term not in data banks." Jhette replied.  
Rio sighed. "Looks like the Hunter didn't bother to actually download a regular dictionary into your data, did she?"

"Negative. All information for use by Program Jhette was chosen and uploaded by Hunter Samantha personally."

Kousuke still didn't really understand that much about what was wrong with Jhette, but considering just what he'd read about himself in the files so far... "Rio, tell me that the bitch suffered before she died."

"Sorry. I only had three bullets and a split second to use them in."

"Damn."

Riku tilted her head. "You know, maybe I could try and get into the system to download some things, but I'd be concerned about ruining what already exists."

Eyes responded. "To answer your question, Jhette, it means that he has a malicious quality about him that we can't really witness but we know it's there."

Kousuke looked pleadingly at Rio, hoping for answers that made sense.

Rio sighed and took pity on him. "The Hunter put Jhette-san's body into suspended animation and fused his consciousness into a computer program. What you're looking at is a hologram that he uses to interact with people. As you can see, he's currently working under some fairly large handicaps and limitations, not to mention gaps in his knowledge."

Kousuke grimaced. "Okay, that's just sick. Even by my standards."

"Tell me about it. I'm Riku, by the way," the girl introduced, giving a sloppy little bow and a smile.

Kousuke grinned. "Yo. I sorta remember you. You were the amethyst despair."

Riku's smile became a wicked grin. "I actually kinda like that!"

Kousuke looked contemplative. "Though meeting you, I get the feeling that normally, it's that you're the amethyst despair of _others_, not yourself."

"Don't insult her by implying that she's a female version of you, Kousuke." Rio teased.

Kousuke whacked her with his tail. Maybe he could get used to that thing after all...

"Actually, it's not so much an insult. Causing trouble is a perfectly good way to spend the day, especially when you have a Hunter that deserves to have her lackeys beaten up." Riku nodded her head and grinned. A moment later, she was delicately sniffing the air. "Are those...omelettes I smell?"

Rio sniffed the air and sighed dreamily. "I wanna marry him..." she murmured, eyes shining.

Kousuke inched away from her, mildly disturbed. One could practically see the shoujo anime sparkle effects around her. He also took a sniff at the air, but wasn't attracted like she was. If anything, he felt just a little sick. He'd been way too long without real food, and he had a sinking suspicion that just persuading himself to take a single bite of anything was going to be a massive feat.

Riku nudged Rio. "You might have to beat me for him."

Rio glanced over at her. "For Little Narumi's cooking, I'd even lay the smackdown on Eyes."

That got her to laugh and Eyes to shake his head, though the corners of his mouth twitched. "Perhaps you should go see what Little Narumi has put together for us, hmm?"

Kousuke smiled and turned towards his room. "I'll meet you guys there after I've gotten dressed. Oh, and Eyes? You look damn good in green. You should wear colors more often."

Eyes shrugged a little. "I like black." When the two girls practically fluttered to the kitchen after the tantalizing smell, the musician turned to kiss Kousuke's cheek. "I'll be taking my shower. I'll join you last."

Kousuke's answering smile was wry and a little sarcastic. "Probably just in time to see Rio attempt to force-feed me because I can't bring myself to eat."

"Trust Little Narumi to understand. I'll be there shortly." With that, he disappeared into the shower across the hall, the door closing gently behind him.

Kousuke sighed and walked back into his room, pulling on his usual outfit of tan pants, black turtleneck, and green jacket. He rather mourned the loss of his yellow shades, and promised himself that he'd go buy a new pair the moment that Rio and Eyes declared him well enough to leave the building. He dawdled a little, trying to put off going into the kitchen. He really didn't feel like eating, even though he knew he should. And he really didn't want to run the risk of throwing up in front of Ayumu. It would totally ruin his reputation. Still, he couldn't hide forever, and he eventually went to the kitchen, where he paused in the doorway and watched while Rio practically had an orgasm over the first bite of her omelet. _That is _so_ wrong on _so_ many levels...  
_

Ayumu dried his hands off on the towel he had and glanced at the two girls. Riku was also making a soft moan of happiness, and he shook his head as it reminded him much of how Madoka acted when he cooked a real meal instead of something out of a box. How he got yelled at when he did that... He lifted his head and noticed Kousuke in the doorway. "It's not going to jump off the plates and bite you, it's safe. Besides, they're too distracted to mess with you at the moment."

Kousuke looked over at him, then back at the girls, then back at him again, one eyebrow raised. "Have you ever considered world domination through your cooking? It seems to work."

"World domination isn't in my schedule, at least not before I get out of high school." He lifted a bowl from the counter and placed it at the empty spot at the table. "Here. This one's for you. I thought about making you an omelette, but I didn't think you'd want it so soon. So I made you some really mild miso broth, barely any flavor."

The nekojin stared at Ayumu, surprised and gratified by the concern. "Thanks," he murmured, not quite sure how to react.

Riku paused in her reverence to Ayumu's breakfast and winked at Rio.

Rio, if anything, looked even happier as Kousuke sat down and carefully sipped at the bowl of miso. This had been a really good morning, even with the news of Kanone coming for a visit.

Ayumu made sure that all of his dishes were clean before he went over to where his jacket was hanging. "As interesting as this week has been, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to go home. My sister is going to freak out as it is, and if I'm really unlucky, Hiyono will be camped out on my doorstep. I have to let them know that I haven't died."

Rio nodded. "That's probably wise. Thank you for all your help, Little Narumi. I mean that."

Ayumu waved his hand. "No thanks needed. Just don't drive everyone crazy while I'm gone. Tell Rutherford thank you for me."

Kousuke looked up at him from the bowl of miso he was slowly beginning to enjoy. "Oh, one thing. You are cordially--though not particularly willingly--invited to come back sometime over the next week. Kanone's going to be visiting and he wants to talk to you."

"Kanone...?" Ayumu had heard very little of him. "Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?"

"You'll see," the redhead sighed. "Just one thing, so you don't end up commenting on it at the wrong time. Kanone tends to hang over Eyes like an amorous storm cloud, whether anyone wants him to or not. But we can't do anything about it because Kanone's just a little too dangerous to tick off."

"In other words, I should pretend that I never heard Rio squealing over your apparent relationship with Rutherford, am I right?" he asked as he slid into his coat.

"Exactly."_Or our interest in you,_ was the unspoken statement.

Ayumu nodded. "I'm good with secrets. He won't find out from me." With that, he waved and headed for the door. "I'll see you guys whenever my sister decides to let me out of the house again...or whenever I get finished with all the homework I missed last week."

"Ja ne," Kousuke said, and Rio waved, her mouth full.


	11. Chapter 11

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 11/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Ayumu just can't seem to win when it comes to the women in his life.

ooooo

Ayumu headed home very thoughtfully. In the week or so that he'd spent with the Blade Children, he'd been living minute-to-minute, not really letting everything digest. The time it took him to get from Eyes's building to his own apartment was filled with a lot pondering on what he'd seen and what Kousuke had told him. He had some assumptions in mind, but he wouldn't really know for sure until their seemingly fearless leader thought that it was the right time to tell. Deciding he'd worry about it more after a long nap in his own bed, he dug out his key and let himself in. 

Sadly, peace and quiet were just not in the cards for Ayumu. It just happened to be Madoka's day off, and she was sitting in the main room, drinking coffee when he came in. 

"Ah-HA!" she shouted, standing up and pointing at him. "There you are! Where the hell have you been, Ayumu? Do you have _any_ idea how worried I've been this past week?!" 

"Oh no.." he muttered under his breath. He played his usual indifference as he walked in, kicking the door shut behind him. Hanging up his coat, he fixed his sister with the look a parent would give a child, as if she were the one that had been a delinquent and not him. "Shouldn't you be at work or something? Think of all the criminals that are getting away with everything while you sit waiting to lecture me." 

"It's my day off. Even Ultraman had normal days. And don't change the subject! Whether you like it or not, I'm still your legal guardian and I have the right to know when you're going to go somewhere! You've been sticking your nose into things that _should_ be a police concern, haven't you? Let me tell you, you're in _very_ serious trouble, young man!" 

Ayumu let out a gargantuan yawn. "I haven't been sticking my nose in this week, Madoka, I swear. Hard to get involved in police work when you're recovering from being poisoned, don't you know? I need a nap." He shuffled past the living room, knowing he had a very slim chance of making it to his room, but he would have at least had to make the effort. 

"_Poisoned?!_" was the angry shriek. "What the hell have you been _doing_?!" 

"Trying to stay out of trouble, but it seems to follow me wherever I go these days, or haven't you noticed?" He turned to face her and crossed his arms, letting out another yawn. 

"Which is why I told you to try and stay out of trouble. I take it that you're not going to tell me what you've been doing this past week?" Madoka was not backing down. She truly was worried for her brother-in-law, and had had half the city looking for him over the last week. 

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, visiting Sayoko. Someone went after her again, and I got caught up in it." He sighed, knowing that he was close enough to the truth to not have to lie to Madoka. He hated what little he was hiding as it was. "Thankfully, she's safe, and I managed to get away, but it was not a pleasant experience." 

"Let me guess, you're not going to let me take you down to the station to file a report." the older woman growled. 

Ayumu shook his head. "I lived, Sayoko is safe, and that's all that matters. Besides, there are very few people I trust lately, and you're one of them. I'd really rather not extend that to the entire police force. Please, Madoka, I know that this is hard for you to understand, but you're the one that has to trust me this time."

Madoka gave him a long hard stare before slowly nodding. "Fine. But that doesn't mean you're getting away without due punishment." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pressed the speed dial. "Hello, Hiyono-chan? He's home." 

"Aw, geez. What did you have to do that for?!" Ayumu could already hear her squealing on the other end of the phone and swearing that she'd be there on the next train. Maybe he could take some painkillers and be unconscious by then... 

Madoka hung up as soon as the squealing stopped. "I did that because she's been calling here every day, just as worried as I am and wearing herself to a thread looking for you. You did this to yourself, Ayumu, so you'll be the one to talk to her and explain things. And _that_ means you stay awake until she gets here." 

"Fine. Have you eaten?" He wandered into the kitchen, the only place he felt he really belonged here. He knew that he'd worried them both, and some part of him registered guilt for it. But he couldn't see dragging them as far in as he was. He might tell Hiyono what was going on. Might. 

Madoka sighed, but smiled. "No, not since the instant curry this morning. Make enough for Hiyono-chan, too." 

Ayumu nodded. "As you wish, Madoka-sama." He'd missed her. He couldn't wait until this whole mess with the Blade Children was over. He'd have to step up and take Kiyotaka's place again soon so that she wouldn't drive herself crazy. He owed her that much for putting up with his indifferent behavior. 

"Hmph. At least you recognize my greatness. But seriously, Ayumu. Next time you're going to be away for a while, contact me! Even if it's just a text message on my phone that says you're not lying dead in a gutter somewhere! The streets of Tokyo can be dangerous, and I don't want to have to someday explain to Kiyotaka why I let his little brother wander out and get killed." 

_When I find him...I'll tell him how well you raised me while he was gone..._ Ayumu nodded his head in agreement. "I promise."

ooooo

The Hope of the Blade Children had never felt so tired in his life. Well, maybe there was the recovery time after being poisoned, but it was closely followed by this morning. It didn't look like he'd get some rest any time soon, thanks to Madoka calling the world's most persistent school reporter over for a visit. Hiyono sat at the foot of his bed, watching him with her inquisitive honey-colored eyes. It was lucky for her that she hadn't begun interrogating him right off, or he might have bludgeoned her with a pillow in an exhaustion-induced frenzy. The girl was a bit smarter than that, taking one look at him down in the kitchen and loudly insisting that he get upstairs to bed.

After he finished making breakfast, of course.

"You look like hell, Ayumu," she said bluntly, her tone a little more subdued than normal. Holding out a package of pocky to him, she took a harder look at his condition than she had when she first arrived.

Ayumu knew her words to be truth. He had only gotten one quick shower before being shipped off to rescue Kousuke and the lack of sleep was a moot issue. Maybe it would be worth it to forgo one more hour of sleep for a long, hot soaking. Sighing, he unwrapped the treat, pulling out a stick and nibbling at the chocolate tip. "I can't imagine I'm a pretty picture," he commented in response. Ayumu would almost swear that the circles under his dark gold eyes had lead weights in them. He had pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up to hide the tangled mess of his hair, and he wasn't focusing like he should have. He knew he should be trying to kick Hiyono out, but this was one fight he was willing to lose for the moment. She'd get the hint if he fell asleep in mid-sentence.

"What happened, Ayumu?" Hiyono asked, her concern more evident in her lack of usual hounding.

The way she said his name sounded both demanding and relieved. In that, he couldn't deny at least a little explanation. "Last Friday, I had this…notion that something was up with Sayoko, so I went to check it out. Turned out that Asazuki was there too, and we both ran into one of those Hunters that are after the Blade Children."

"Like Sonobe?" Hiyono murmured with a frown. "Did Sayoko get hurt…or Kousuke?"

Ayumu munched down the rest of his pocky stick before flopping back onto his pillows. "That's a hard thing to answer. Sayoko's okay. As far as I can tell, we deviated the Hunter away, and she probably doesn't even know she was in danger."

"That's probably true," Hiyono commented, a thoughtful look on her face. "I haven't heard any rumors about her, and she hasn't acted any differently in class. She did ask about you when you didn't show up all week. Now what about Kousuke?"

"Well, this Hunter wasn't like the other one." Ayumu closed his eyes, remembering all too clearly how assured she was…and how even she knew about Kiyotaka. "Is there anyone that doesn't know about my brother?" he wondered out loud.

Hiyono tilted her head, looking curious at the random question. "So the Hunters know about him too? He must have done something to get caught up in this mess with the Blade Children if the ones trying to kill them know about him too."

"No kidding," Ayumu almost grumbled, stifling a yawn. "Of all the things to keep quiet about. Now he's gone, and I think he's the only one who knows exactly what's going on. Maybe." His brows furrowed. "At the very least, he could have told me I'd be neck deep in this mess before he took off."

"What if he didn't know?"

"I can't believe that. They know too much about me. Rutherford, Asazuki, and even Rio all talk about me as if they know me by association. Some of those things, I wouldn't even tell my best friend, let alone complete strangers. He knew. He made them promise to keep limits concerning all their stupid little tests." He sounded bitter, and he couldn't help it. He was too tired to care about his acts of indifference. To be honest, Kiyotaka's involvement in matters that had almost cost Ayumu his life in more than one instance pissed him off. He took a deep breath and altered the subject a little. He knew that if he kept brewing on it, he'd be too busy thinking about it to actually sleep after Hiyono left. "As for Asazuki and I, instead of killing us when she—"

"She?" Hiyono looked surprised.

"Yes, she. When she cornered us, she didn't off us. She took us hostage, shot Asazuki in the shoulder, and tried to put a dart full of poison in my neck." Unconsciously, he reached up to touch the slight rise of skin that was left behind when the dart cut him. It brought to mind the brief moments that Kousuke's lips were pressed to the wound…an act that had saved his life. He shuddered and had to ignore it when Hiyono let out a horrified shriek.

"How can you say that so casually?!" she demanded. "You could be dead right now!"

"But I'm not, and I won't tell you the rest if you won't stay calm."

That shut her up. She pursed her lips and clutched at the fabric of her skirt. He knew she wanted to protest, but her drive to get the rest of the story was a much stronger influence.

"We were taken to a lab," Ayumu continued when he was sure he had her attention. "Apparently, she thought it would be a great idea to make Blade Children even more messed up than they already are." Ayumu held up his hand. "Don't ask the details; just trust me that it's bad."

Hiyono nodded. "Why take you too?"

Ayumu shrugged. "Why not? Ever since being under investigation for Sayoko's accident, everything I do has been tied into the Blade Children. Whether I'm an assistance or a threat, I'm still important somehow. Suffice to say that being there was unpleasant and getting out was even more so."

Did it take you a whole week just to get out?" Hiyono was too caught up to be flipping out so easily, a fact for which Ayumu was grateful.

"No. It didn't take me long to get out once I could stand up on my own. Rutherford and Rio made me rest and then I went with them to get Asazuki out. After that, I came home." Ayumu finished his tale rather anti-climactically, but he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, that chapter was over, and it was time to prepare himself for an inevitable next encounter.

He was surprised at the lapse and silence, having expected a hundred other questions. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Hiyono's gaze on him, intense.

"Ayumu?" she said quietly.

He'd almost drifted off. "Hmm?"

"Why don't you just get out?"

"Huh?" The brunet leaned up on his elbows, a confused look on his face as he blinked at the girl.

Hiyono sighed softly and shrugged, as if she wasn't sure she shouldn't have spoken up. "Ayumu…ever since you've gotten involved with the Blade Children, you've been through non-stop chaos. Bombs, knives, killer bees, kidnapping… that's just the surface. You're just a high school kid, just like me. Even if hanging around you almost guarantees a hot story for the paper, it's not worth losing your life, is it? You're smart enough to know how dangerous your association with the Blade Children really is. Why not stop getting in the middle? Leave them be and get on with your own life. You don't _have_ to be involved."

Ayumu let her say her piece, and for a moment, he almost considered taking such a concept seriously. "I can't." He dropped back to the pillows with a soft thud.

"Why not?"

"I'm in it too deep now. Three of them already go to our school; thanks to my brother, they all seem to know who I am. Even if I wanted to disassociate myself with them, they still would know who I was, where to find me, and without them, how will I know if there's some Hunter wanting to snatch me up like this last one did? Who's to say that I'm not in as much danger without them as I am with them? Besides…"

Hiyono watched him, patient enough by this point to not push him. She tilted her head, the intensity in her gaze proving she was paying attention. He could feel it. Sometimes, Ayumu wondered why she cared so much about his decisions. Was he just a hot story lead for her? Frowning, he fought back the bitterness again.

"Besides…it looks like I'm already bound to them somehow." Ayumu's voice had become a little more distant, somewhere between thoughtful and sleepy in tone. "When I was getting Asazuki out of the lab, I met some other Blade Children. One of them called me the 'Hope'. I'd never even seen her before in my life, but she knew me just by hearing my name. I…I mean something to them. It's like they're depending on me for something, whether I know what it is or not. And it _is _dangerous; it _is _a matter of life or death. They see me as someone who can save them from this…Fate they keep talking about." He chuckled quietly. "No one's ever depended on me that much and they take it so seriously. Sure, they keep comparing me to my brother, but if I really didn't meet their standards, they wouldn't be so tangled up with me. Maybe this is something I can do that he couldn't. I can't turn back, not until I can't take anymore, and I'm not there yet."

"Is it worth it?" Hiyono wondered.

There was no hesitation when Ayumu answered with a quietly firm, "Yes."

Hiyono nodded her head and offered him a smile. "Something's changing in you, Ayumu. You're different than when I first met you…and a reporter's instincts are never wrong."

"If you say so."

"I do," she insisted. "But you need your rest."

He cracked an eye open at her. "Does this mean you're going to stop harassing me now?" Admittedly, she had acted a lot better than he'd been expecting, so he was mostly teasing her.

"Hmph!" The girl stood up in a flutter of braids and skirt. She seemed annoyed by the comment, but her smile betrayed that she didn't take it too hard at all. "I guess some things haven't changed. You're still as ungrateful as ever." 

"Get out," he threw back with no emphasis behind it, only weariness. He rolled over, tugging the blankets over his head.

Her giggle was the last thing he heard, and then he was sound asleep.

ooooo

Eyes had never looked so calm, so quiet before. Even as he walked through the airport baggage claim with the sense that this was the last place on earth he wanted to be, it didn't show on his face. As he normally did when he hoped to reduce his chances of being recognized in public, he had tied his hair back into a ponytail and draped himself in a long coat with a fuzzy, white collar that obscured some of his face. Blue eyes searched for the man that he wished had stayed in England, hoping that somehow, he'd missed his flight... 

Arms far stronger than they looked suddenly wrapped around him from behind and a lightly accented voice whispered in his ear. "Hello, Eyes." 

Reflex almost made him cringe or pull away, but Eyes held onto his composure, remaining where he was. He neither leaned back nor moved forward. "Kanone," he whispered, feeling that unsettled weight in both his chest and stomach. He was careful to keep it from showing on his face, even if it couldn't be seen. 

Kanone stepped around to face the silver-haired musician, smiling in his most charming fashion. He ran one hand admiringly through the tail of pale hair, absently twining his fingers in it for just a second. "Tying your hair back suits you, Eyes. It brings out the delicacy of your features." A delicacy that matched Eyes's heart, unbeknownst to the rest of the world. Kanone took great pride in being the one who held that heart in his fist. 

If he had known Kanone would have liked it so much, he might have suffered his own popularity to leave it down. "Thank you," he said politely. "You're looking well, Kanone." Why was his heart beating so fast? He resisted the urge to press a hand to his chest, as if he could muffle the pounding, hide it. 

Kanone nodded in acknowledgement of the compliment and smiled, hearing the slight acceleration of Eyes's breathing as he grew more agitated. The mocha-haired boy rather enjoyed the fact that Eyes feared him, because that meant he could not forget him. And Kanone knew every single trigger in both Eyes's psyche and his body to turn fear to desire, if he so wished. "So, shall we go? We have so much to catch up on, and the airport is hardly the place to do it." 

Eyes wondered just what Kanone had intended to catch up on, but he let that thought pass. "The car is waiting outside. Would you like me to carry something for you?" He indicated the luggage that Kanone had put down when he'd hugged Eyes. 

"No, I'm fine." Kanone replied, picking up the suitcase easily. "I've gotten a bit stronger since you last saw me. It's a nice thing. I no longer struggle with peanut butter jars, at least." He walked past the musician, brushing just slightly against the other boy's arm, the back of his hand touching Eyes's for a fraction of a second. It could easily have been an accident in this crowded airport, and the question of whether it was or not would keep Eyes guessing and slightly off-balance. Such fun... 

Eyes bristled the moment Kanone's back was to him, following him out the doors and trying not to think about how much physical contact he'd likely have to put up with while the other was here. "It used to amuse me when you'd ask for help opening them. It's about time you've toughened up." It was also a silent threat, and Eyes knew it. It was a good bet that Kanone could take on more than a peanut butter jar now. 

"Hmmm...I owe it all to time, determination, and a few good associates." Kanone said. He noted that Eyes was warier than usual, probably because he felt he had to hide his indiscretions with Asazuki from him. Well, he would have that settled and corrected by the time he left. It was a pity they were in such a populous area, though. While Eyes's hands were sensitive and useful for Kanone's manipulations, he preferred to use the sensitive areas on his hips and lower back because it was more of a challenge to reach them. That, and the reaction was that much more dramatic, even if Eyes hid it. 

For once, Eyes was thankful for the crowds, and lamented the loss of them as they got outside. He kept his pace to the car brisk and quick, his own test to see how well Kanone would keep up. Strength was only good if it was matched with speed and agility, he knew that much. "What made you decide you needed to become stronger? I thought you were content with the way you were, Kanone?" He opened the trunk for the brunette to heft his suitcase into, making no move to help as he moved to the driver's side to unlock the doors. 

Kanone kept up easily, seeming not to notice that Eyes was testing him as he loaded his suitcase into the back. "It was something to do. And besides, I got tired of having the peanut butter mock me. I didn't have you around to open them any more, after all." he murmured, again brushing over one of those delicate hands before pulling away to get in the car. 

Eyes's fingers curled into a tight fist that made his pale knuckles even whiter as he opened the door and slid into the smooth, leather seat. The car was his own, something he kept here since he seemed to spend more time in Japan than even his own home country. "I was quite sure you could handle the peanut butter on your own while I was gone." 

"I certainly can now." Kanone settled comfortably into the car seat, his regal air almost making it a throne. The sun lightened his hair to reddish amber, his eyes blazing like tigers eye. A part of Eyes that the musician had tried in vain to separate himself from found the picture beautiful...and desirable. 

_Damn it.. what's wrong with me..? Kousuke doesn't deserve me feeling like this for Kanone. I don't love Kanone. _He turned his eyes away from the image to start the car and pull out of the cramped lot. The driving, he hoped, would help take his mind off of that twisting feeling in his gut. _Oh, but you love Kousuke?_ that little part of him mocked. "How was your flight?" 

Kanone turned to look at him, admiring how even in the year since they'd last seen each other, Eyes had grown even more beautiful. It seemed worthless causes like fighting Fate agreed with him. "It was fine. A bit of turbulence, but nothing terrible." 

"I've never been on a flight without turbulence." It was rather like living. But Kanone was right. Fighting and staying healthy enough to live in spite of Fate made his features stronger, more prominent. In that, he could not argue if he knew what Kanone was thinking. "I hoped you would not be late." _More like I'd hoped you'd never boarded...  
_

"I would never be late to meet you, Eyes. Our time together is always so short as it is." Kanone decided to make a point of not touching Eyes for the next little while. Knowing the way the pianist thought and what he was expecting, he would wear himself down just waiting for some other touch. It was always easier to show beloved pets their proper place when they'd tired themselves out. 

And as predicted, Eyes was waiting for the next attempted touch, knowing that it couldn't just stop at the airport. Even though the other boy had made it quite clear that he wasn't in the same mood, the same mindset as the last time Kanone saw him, it seemed that his former lover would keep making the attempt to draw him close again. He didn't like it. Not one bit. "So it would seem. Would be a shame to lose what little we have, wouldn't it?" He almost put stress on the 'little', but he knew he implied it as it was, so he let the words flow normally. 

"That it would. But I was hardly going to stop you from doing what you felt was necessary, even if I didn't agree with it. How goes your little quest, by the way? Any closer to a solution?" He knew Eyes wouldn't lie to him. While there hadn't been much time in which they had been close enough for it, there had been enough to train the musician in a few things. One was not to attempt lying to him. The other was to melt when certain areas of his body, such as his shoulders, were touched. 

"Not as close as I'd like to be, especially since Kiyotaka disappeared," Eyes answered, his gaze focused entirely on the road while his mind raced to keep up with giving the right answers. "It's difficult to get answers when there seem to be more and more Hunters after us." 

Kanone nodded. "That's what happens when you draw attention like you do. I did warn you they were coming. And I'll warn you now. My contacts tell me Huntress Cassandra has also begun taking mild interest in your operations. I've been running interference best I can but...well, even I am wary of Cassandra." 

"I draw attention because I'm not ready to put my life in hiding for some small-minded Hunters who compromise their own humanity under the guise of saving it." Eyes shrugged. "If I am to be deemed a monster, then I'll live as one under the lights. It does not bother me." His brow furrowed. He'd heard a little bit of such a Hunter, but hadn't gotten enough on her to know exactly what he was up against. 

"But you forget, you are responsible for more than just yourself. Is it fair to bring the title of monster onto those who stand by you? One of that number even got hurt, this time." Kanone pointed out. _Not dead, sadly. But then, Samantha was a fool._ He waited patiently, knowing that Eyes would eventually ask him for more information on Cassandra. Making Eyes come to him for something needed was just another little step in keeping the musician in his hold. It was rather endearing, in a way. Eyes tried so hard to be independent, and yet never quite realized just how in thrall he still was. 

Eyes frowned. "If you know me so well, then you'd know that I'd make them well aware of what risks I take, and how much of a risk that puts onto them. I make the choice for no one, and they're free to leave if they wish. Apparently, I'm doing something right if they've stayed." It ate at the edges of his mind, he _wanted _to know what danger was out there, but he also knew how it made him appear, and he would hold out, for just a little bit. 

Kanone was an expert at the waiting game. He knew Eyes would crumble eventually. "Perhaps, but does giving them that choice make it any less your responsibility? Especially if a Hunter managed to get lucky and destroy one of your little family?" 

It hurt him to think about such a thing, he'd grown so close to Kousuke and Rio. He suspected that it wouldn't take long to endear himself to Riku as well, if the time he'd spent around her was any indication. Even Jhette and Ryoko made him a little more protective with each day. "I am responsible to an extent. I promise nothing other than a fight to find a way to avoid Fate. I promise no one will live or die one way or another. It would be an impossible and fragile promise." 

Kanone just smiled. "However, you were always the gentler one of us. Knowing you, you have already given them that promise in your heart, even if you have never given voice to it." 

"You're the one that chose to shed tears for me. I hardly consider myself the softer one," Eyes defended with a frown. He felt as if he was being mocked, and he didn't like it. 

Kanone held up a hand to halt the defense. "I said 'gentler', not 'softer'. It is possible to be gentle without being soft, Eyes. You know that as well as I. After all, softness is deadly to one of our kind." He lowered his hand, again not touching Eyes, though from the very slight flinch of the arm, the musician had been expecting it. Good. Then the lack of contact would continue to confuse him and wear him down. Eyes's defenses were considerable, but only if at full strength. They were as delicate as his heart and face, otherwise, and shattered beautifully when given the right treatment. 

Eyes couldn't wait until they were home. Then at least he'd be in more familiar surroundings, and he wouldn't have to concentrate so hard as to not veer into oncoming traffic whenever he felt the inclination to bolt. "It is. Something I've instilled in both myself and those that are around me." 

"And yet you keep yourself open enough to pick up stray cats," Kanone said, referring to the conversation over the phone yesterday. Eyes could still lie when they weren't physically in the same area, it seemed. "I trust I'll be allowed to meet the feline?" 

"If he comes out to meet you. It's a shy little thing, has had its share of rough times, I'd wager," Eyes answered in a flat tone. The cat wasn't important...he just had to make Kanone believe that. 

"Most strays do. That's one of the reasons being close to something that offers security is such a novelty for them." Kanone purposefully couched the statement in vague terms. It fit both a cat and Asazuki that way. Best to make Eyes worry...just a little. "You may want to get the little thing a collar, though. Otherwise, someone may end up catching it and sending it off somewhere." 

"That only becomes necessary if it strays too far, and even then, it's wrong to keep it captive. Like anything else, it's meant to roam where it wishes." Eyes was feeling uneasy, and it was all he could do to keep his heart from pounding like it had when Kanone embraced him in the airport. 

"True, but even then, most strays end up caught. And if not taken in somewhere, they're generally terminated. A sad thing, really." Though admittedly, _one_ particular 'stray' seemed to have the devil's own luck concerning death... 

"Yes," Eyes agreed, refusing to fall into the trap of the word game. He pulled into the garage of the high rise, parking and trying not to look too hasty as he pulled the key from the engine and moved to get out. 

Kanone also got out, and waited for Eyes to unlock the trunk so that he could get his suitcase. All in all, the ride had been fun. Eyes was quite unsettled, even if he hid it well. 

"You'll be staying on the floor beneath mine, so if you need anything, I'm nearby." _And I'd know if you were coming before you could get here to surprise me...  
_

Kanone nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. It's always so nice to be with you." He reached up, running his fingertips along the line of Eyes's jaw, the very mildest of flirtations before pulling away.

Eyes didn't immediately recoil, but it wasn't because he enjoyed the touch, it was more from a thought of fascination. For a split second, he'd expected the touch to be rough, calloused, and it surprised him when the skin wasn't. Instead it was smooth, like being caressed with warm silk, and while he might have preferred that once upon a time, he found that it wasn't to his taste. Kousuke had the more pleasant touch now, and the thought of it brought the tiniest smile to his face. "You're flattering me, Kanone." 

Kanone raised an eyebrow, and gave a slight smile of his own to hide annoyance. He could see the smile on Eyes's lips, even if most others would not. And he knew somehow that it was not for him. "It can hardly be flattery if it is true, now can it? And I do believe you're smiling, Eyes. Care to let me in on what amuses you?" 

It was dangerous just how perceptive Kanone could be, but Eyes couldn't find it in himself that moment to be worried about it. "Just your hands.. You said you were stronger, I thought that meant that your touch would feel different than it always had, but it seems the same." 

Kanone realized he'd just been compared, and probably unfavorably. Rage burned for a moment, but then cooled. He would deal with this and set it straight soon enough. "Saa, I think the only way you'd tell a difference is if I ended up hitting you. And I have never once hit you." 

"I would hope the statistic never changes, Kanone. For all that I am attached to you, I wouldn't want to see that severed by a very foolish mistake." 

Kanone turned to gaze straight into those sapphire eyes that he admired so much, and smiled. "I assure you, Eyes. It would not be me that made such a mistake." 

Eyes nodded. "I assure you that it's quite a relief." He motioned ahead of them. "Shall we?" 

"After you," Kanone murmured graciously, picking up his suitcase. 

Eyes led them into the building and into one of the elevators that had a wall of clear glass in the rear, looking out over the city as they started to rise above it. The pianist found himself staring out there as if he were a caged bird, and he tried not to hold that comparison too close to truth. 

Kanone admired the view of the city, letting his mind wander just a little. This elevator would be a fun place to take Eyes...but that was for later, when he had reestablished his ownership. For now, there was business to deal with. He needed to see for himself if Narumi Ayumu had become a threat, and if he'd already pulled Asazuki off the proper path of the Blade Children. "So...tell me a little about the younger Narumi. I assume you've told him I wish to see him?" 

"Kousuke told him before he left for home, so it will depend on whether or not Little Narumi decides to accept the invitation." Eyes crossed his arms. "As for telling you things about him, I know very little as he's about as quick to open up as I am. He's intelligent, which can only be expected from Kiyotaka's bloodline." 

Kanone nodded. "Intelligent and probably very lucky, to have survived everything you and your compatriots have thrown at him. But nothing compared to his brother, from what I hear." 

"No, he is merely a shadow of what Kiyotaka was," Eyes replied, recalling the words that he used himself. Whether or not he so strongly believed them anymore was questionable. "But luck does seem to be his forte." 

"I wonder if that luck's turned sour, to suddenly have a mental connection with Asazuki, of all people." Kanone murmured. 

Eyes didn't react and that might have been a good thing. "Perhaps his luck improved if it didn't last. For all I know, it could have been a result of the Hunter's failed attempt at programming." 

Kanone nodded. "We'll see. That's why I want to talk to Asazuki, after all. Though I may do it privately. I'm sure he wouldn't care to discuss such personal things in front of everyone." And Kanone had a few tricks to pull out information from even the most stubborn and unwilling of minds... 

Eyes shrugged. "Do as you like." He prayed that Kousuke could hold his own against Kanone, but he figured that his lover stood a better chance than he himself did. 

"That I shall," Kanone murmured, eyes turning to the elevator door as they reached their destination. 

Eyes felt he should at least accompany Kanone to get settled in his own room, so he followed the brunette onto his floor, offering him a key that went to his room, and his room only. "That's for you. I'd like to make sure the room fits your needs." 

Kanone nodded and smiled. "Very well. I'm hardly going to complain about having your company a few moments longer." 

"I didn't think you would." He let Kanone open the door into a room that was decorated just as nicely as the topmost floor, but in a little more homely fashion. 

Kanone looked around the room before turning to Eyes. There was no one else here, and the bed looked quite comfortable. Perhaps he could... 

"Eyes-san?" The image of Jhette suddenly popped into existence next to the musician. "Riku is cooking tonight. She inquires as to whether you will be joining the others for supper, or taking supper by yourself. Rio-san informs me that is what you normally do in the days before a performance." 

It looked like Rio had given Eyes an out, if he wanted to take it.

Silently thanking her, he glanced to the image of the young man and nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I will be up in a few minutes, I would like a plate prepared." 

"Acknowledged. Request is delivered." Jhette then turned his eyes to Kanone, obviously wondering who the person was. He blinked a few times, the data banks that made up most of his conscious mind searching and cross-referencing...and coming up with an unexpected result. The computerized eyes widened. "I...know you...!" 

Kanone's own eyes widened in shock, and he inwardly cursed and quickly used his magic to create a small malfunction in the other Blade Child's system. Stupid of him to forget about that one... "Do you? How so? I cannot recall meeting you." 

Jhette blinked. "I know you from--" he started, than the image promptly went grainy, fading in and out. "Warning! Warning! System malfunction in power nodes 3, 7, and 8. Commencing emergency shutdown for immediate repair." And with that, the image was gone. 

Kanone blinked. "Well," he said, expertly keeping any trace of smugness out of his voice, "That was...interesting. Does that sort of thing happen often?" 

"I've only known him for a few days, I do not know. Riku would probably be the better one to ask." He frowned, wondering if that was merely coincidence...or something more. 

Kanone nodded, letting go of the hope for working on his claim to Eyes for the night. Jhette's appearance had ruined that chance. "Perhaps I'll do that. But for now, you should go eat while your food is hot. I'll get myself settled in." 

It wasn't good manners to not invite Kanone, but Eyes couldn't see trying to curb the others' behavior at the dinner table. "Remember, if you need anything, all you need is to call. But you should find yourself well-provided for. I even made sure you had a fully-stocked kitchen." 

Kanone nodded, walking over to Eyes and running a hand over the other Blade Child's cheek before leaning up to claim a quick kiss. "I'll make use of it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Eyes murmured, fighting back a blush at the action. Since the airport he'd been waiting for something, and when he should have expected it most, he'd been unprepared. He cursed himself for it. "Until later." He turned and left, fists clenched in his pockets. 

Kanone chuckled. Eyes was so very easy.


	12. Chapter 12

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 12/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Eyes continues his efforts to gain ground in his and Kanone's silent opposition while Ayumu and the other Blade Children spend some quality time together.

Note from the authors: So sorry about the delay on this chapter, dear readers! The holidays and a side order of real life came about, but we're back on track, and we hope you enjoy the show!

ooooo

The door opened on the penthouse level, and Eyes didn't even spare a greeting for anyone that was in the vicinity. He made a straight shot for his room, the blue coat and soft white collar fanning out behind with the pony tail. He was so upset he was nearly shaking, but holding it back so that no one would see it before he made it to somewhere safe. 

Kousuke watched him as he rushed past, and got up to follow him once he realized that Kanone was nowhere near. He could sense Eyes's turbulent emotions, all snarled together in a horrible tangle, and he worried. 

Eyes rushed into his room, but didn't bother to shut the door, as if he somehow knew that comfort would come following. He practically tore the coat from his shoulders, his hand going up to rip the hair tie from his hair. He let out a growl of frustration as it got caught in the fine silver strands, tugging uncomfortably at his scalp and turning the growl into a whimper. 

Gentle but calloused fingers suddenly covered his own, helping to take out the tie without yanking Eyes's scalp off in the process. Eyes knew immediately from that roughened touch who it was and he didn't fight, dropping his hands to his sides helplessly. Kousuke got the hair tie untangled quickly, then stepped back, looking concerned. He was still dressed in the loose white t-shirt and faded blue sweatpants from that morning, since he'd forced himself back into human form and promptly passed out from the exhaustion of the change. "Eyes...?" He didn't bother to ask if the pianist was okay, since it was obvious he wasn't. But Kousuke was not about to leave him alone with it if he didn't have to. 

Eyes only needed to hear the sound of his name to feel invited to Kousuke's comfort. He closed the gap between them in a few short steps, pressing himself to the redhead and burying his face in Kousuke's shoulder. It was then that he let the walls down, shaking almost violently against the other.

Kousuke's eyes widened at the other boy's unexpected reaction, and wrapped his arms around the shaking frame, holding him close. He held tightly to Eyes, not to stop the shaking, but to give the musician the security needed so that he could _continue_ to do so, or anything else he needed to work the fear and anger out of his system. 

Eyes's arms circled Kousuke, fingers curling in the fabric of the t-shirt and clutching it as if it were a lifeline. "Kousuke...I..." Even though his body shook so hard, his quiet voice was surprisingly stilled. "..I don't know if I can do this..." 

Kousuke sighed sadly, laying his cheek against the top of Eyes's head. It was strange, but only now did he realize that he was actually taller than the other boy. Usually, Eyes's personality and self-assurance made him seem the taller of the two. "I wish I could help you. But the best any of us could think of was making sure you were alone with him as little as possible. Well, and Riku suggested smuggling you out of here and telling Kanone you were abducted by aliens, but somehow, I don't think he'd buy that." 

"I don't think so either." Hearing Kousuke admit that he and the others had already been looking for ways to get him away from Kanone was like a double-edged sword. Relief and shame both stung at him for not having the strength to stand up like he always had. It shook the foundation he'd very carefully created, and he wondered if this would make them think less of him. If Kousuke would think less of him... "I can withstand him as much as my strength allows, and then the rest is up to my luck." 

"We're going to do our best to make sure that he can't corner you too much. Riku and I already plan to make a right nuisance of ourselves. And Eyes..." He freed one arm to gently tilt Eyes's face up to meet his, that gentle calloused touch brushing along the silver-haired boy's skin. "If he _does_ manage to hurt you, I'm coming in to stop it, even if he _does_ mop the floor with me." 

Eyes held Kousuke's gaze, his blue eyes dark with the turmoil beneath the surface of that careful expression. "Kousuke..." He never felt more grateful for that touch, letting it brush away the smooth, possessive way Kanone had touched him before. He almost felt as if he was using the redhead, and that hurt worse than anything. "You...deserve better than me...both as a leader and as...someone to love..." There was resignation in his voice. Even with the way that Kousuke held on, reassuring him, comforting him, Eyes still expected rejection. Especially since it was so plain in his own actions and thoughts that part of him was still bound to Kanone whether he wanted it or not. 

"Don't say that. Don't even hint at it." Kousuke growled, tightening his hold on the pale boy. "It's not your fault, what Kanone does to you. It doesn't make you any more or less worthy of being who you are, and the only one who'd likely disagree with me happens to be the bastard one floor below us." He leaned forward and brushed a light kiss over Eyes's forehead. "Besides, it's not a matter of 'deserving'. I love you. That's all there is to it, and that's not going to change anytime soon." 

Eyes didn't have enough control left at the moment to stop himself from flinching at the growl. "I need you, Kousuke. It's your touch that makes me smile now; being with you that settles me and reminds me why I fight. Of course the other Blade Children are family, but if you're willing to love me, then it's you I need the most. You and...Little Narumi... but in different ways." 

Kousuke just sighed, letting go of Eyes and leading him over to the bed so that they could sit down. The pale Blade Child must have been more unsettled than he'd thought, to flinch at nothing more than a harsh tone. Once they were settled, he pulled Eyes into his arms again, one hand rubbing gently at the shaking boy's shoulders in hope of calming him a little. "We need you too. Even Ayumu does, though he probably hasn't realized it yet. If nothing else, you're the only link to his brother that he has. And if you need me, then I'm happy. I'll stick by you as long as I'm needed or wanted." 

The shaking had calmed some, and Eyes shifted himself on the bed so that he was laying on it, his head resting on Kousuke's thigh. His eyes closed as he began to rebuild his cracked foundation, reserve coming to the surface again. In just the short time he'd been in the room with Kousuke, he felt more reassured, better than he had when he first arrived. "Don't lose faith in me. It's all I have. I'll fight Kanone, but I can't do it alone." 

Kousuke gave a wry little smile, his hand moving to stroke the fine silver hair. "I'm not good at keeping faith in things," he murmured, running a thumb along one pale cheek, "but for you, I'll do it. Somehow, it's easy to believe in you. You're not alone anymore." 

"Thank you." Eyes still wasn't sure how well he'd cope while Kanone was here, but knowing that he wouldn't have to go through it alone eased him enough to regain his composure. He would be ready to fight again. 

Kousuke smiled and bent down to brush a chaste kiss along the corner of Eyes's mouth. Ah, the flexibility of the nekojin! "Get some sleep. I can't promise to be here when you wake up, but I can at least be here until you nod off."

"That's all I need then." Eyes nestled more snugly against Kousuke's body, taking a slow deep breath to clear some of the tension. By the time he'd stopped shaking, he was already asleep, assured by Kousuke's presence that he was safe for the moment. 

For a long while, Kousuke just sat there, watching over Eyes and stroking the fine silver hair. He was still worried, but for tonight at least he could make sure Eyes stayed safe. Right now, it was all he could do.

ooooo

Kousuke stepped onto the roof of the school, breathing a soft sigh of relief. One of the classes was having a Parents' Day thing, and he'd been beset on by crowds of well-meaning adults who had pelted him with questions. It was irritating, to say the least, and he'd escaped to the top of the building the moment the lunch bell rang. Really, it wasn't even _his_ class that invited the parents! Why had they descended on everyone else?!

He very quickly became aware that he wasn't the only one on the roof, a lone figure standing at the rail, leaning over and watching the events below. An opened lunch was spread on the ground by the girl's feet, wind ruffling short brown hair and tugging lightly at her uniform.

Ryoko. 

Kousuke was surprised to see her here, considering that she normally preferred to eat in her classroom. But then again, if his experiences were any indication, perhaps it wasn't such a shock to encounter her, after all. And now that he thought about it, he had some questions for her, anyway. So he walked over, leaning on the fence next to her. "Hey."

"Yo, Kousuke," she said, refraining from her usual, more violent greetings. "Much quieter up here, isn't it?"

"Very. If I get asked one more time what I want to be when I grow up, I might throttle someone. Two more times for the question about whether or not I'll stop dyeing my hair. Is it so hard to believe that it might be natural? Sheesh."

Ryoko couldn't help but laugh, giving him a vicious little smirk. "Well, you do look like a J-rock reject..."

"Shut up!" Kousuke protested, "Eyes fits that bill way more than I do!"

"Only because he wears more leather than you do," she retorted, nudging him with her elbow. "You guys are hardly subtle about the way you look."

"Come on, that's hardly my fault."

"Sure it is! It's always your fault."

Kousuke raised an eyebrow. "Is the fact that you're still involved with all the violent stuff that you hate my fault, too?" he asked, lowering his voice a little, just in case of listeners. "I asked Eyes to send you somewhere safe."

Ryoko turned to look at him, her brown eyes softening some, and maybe even looking a little guilty. "I know. Kinda surprised me that he changed his mind so quick, but I knew it was because of you. You don't have to protect me Kousuke."

Don't I?" the redhead asked softly. "Sure, you're violent tomboy who takes a positive delight in kicking my ass, and a thousand times better than me in most physical stuff, but I also know that you hate fighting, and that you still blame Eyes for my first kill. If there's anyone who I'd rather not see dragged into the bloody mess that is the life of a Blade Child, it's you."

"Look, I get it, really I do. But Blade Children like us are outnumbered as it is. Rutherford promised that I wouldn't have to kill, and it meant that I could finally be useful." She shrugged a little, glancing out over the school's courtyard again. "It wouldn't be fair if I just ran."

Kousuke sighed, turning to also gaze out across the schoolyards, his slender fingers wrapping around the links of the fence. "I wouldn't blame you if you did. Out of all of us, you have the best chance for a real life. You should be working towards that. Heh...I may not believe that we can be saved, but for some weird reason, it's easy for me to believe that you could probably avoid Fate somehow. Maybe by outrunning it..."

"Kousuke..." she murmured, turning her head a little more so that he wouldn't see her bite her lip. She wasn't very good at letting him see her upset. At least not without fists and loud demands involved.

Kousuke could tell she was upset, could sense it with that strange new power that the Hunter had forced onto him. He didn't let on, however, knowing she'd likely hide it by hitting him. It was just their way. "Well, just promise me you'll be careful. Quite frankly, the idea of you suddenly going Rambo on us kind of scares me."

At that, she let out a chuckle, giving him another nudge. "Would it...really make you feel better if I...ran for a little longer?"

Kousuke nodded. "You're special to me, Ryoko," he whispered, not liking to bare himself like this, but knowing he needed to, "You're my sister and my best friend. I don't want to see blood on your hands, because I know it would break your heart."

"Then don't you dare do something stupid," Ryoko said after a long moment of silence while she tried to keep her composure. "Losing you would break my heart too. And then I'll make you very sorry."

Kousuke chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like you. Maybe I should introduce you to Riku. You two are a lot alike."

"Good," Ryoko said with a matter-of-fact nod. "Someone's gotta babysit you while I'm gone."

"Hey!"

"'s true." She caught him in a headlock, which reluctantly became a hug once he was close enough.

Kousuke yelped and struggled at first, but then relaxed and hugged back. "Well, maybe you're not totally alike...her breasts would smother me. You're safely flat."

Ryoko gave a familiar growl, pulling back to slug him. "Jerk."

Kousuke just grinned, pulling away from her and rubbing the sore spot on his head. "Always and forever," he agreed cheerfully. "So, how about we eat lunch together? I'm pretty sure that Rio's going to eventually find her way up here as well, just as soon as she loses interest in being cute at grownups."

Ryoko nodded, letting him go without much protest. "Yeah. What did you bring me?"

"What are you talking about? You've got your lunch right there! I don't have to bring you anything!"

Before he knew it, Kousuke was in another headlock, Ryoko deigning to enlighten him on all the things he had the privilege of bringing her. When Rio joined them, also trying to escape the hordes of noisy parents, she plopped down for a front row seat to Kousuke's abuse and happily unpacked her food.

In the meantime, Ayumu had been looking forward to a relatively quiet lunch. Even though he did have Hiyono in tow, going up to the roof for some alone time with his bento and a bit of normalcy seemed to be what he'd need to prepare himself for whatever tonight would bring. So finding out that his usual spot on the roof was taken up by, not one, but three Blade Children didn't exactly thrill him. He took one look at Rio, Kousuke, and Ryoko before turning on his heel to leave again. Maybe he hadn't gotten enough sleep, but he didn't think they should be subject to his sour mood, and in return, he shouldn't be subjected to them seeming to be everywhere he went these days. 

Unfortunately, the Blade Children noticed him. Kousuke _might_ have just let him go, had it been up to him, but he was currently in Ryoko's choke hold and not in a position to decide anything. 

Ryoko and Rio had other ideas. "Narumi!" Ryoko called. "Come over here and explain what manners are to this idiot. You obviously have no problem providing for Ryuizaki-chan." 

"Can't I just have an hour to myself these days?" Ayumu asked in response. The brunet didn't even want to touch the idea that he "provided" for Hiyono, even if he had been bullied into bringing her lunch these days.

"Not today, I'm afraid," Rio sighed. "Trust me, we wouldn't be up here bothering you, but class C is having one of those parent day things. There's no room anywhere else." 

Ayumu sighed, earning a nudge from Hiyono. 

"Stop being such a grouch, Ayumu. It's not going to kill you to have lunch with them," the girl insisted. 

"You say that now," Ayumu said under his breath. Nevertheless, he trudged over to where they were sitting and nestled up against the wall, placing the bento box in his lap. 

"It's better than down there," Kousuke said, finally managing to squirm out from Ryoko's iron grip. "Down there, it's a bunch of nosey adults talking to you as if you're five-year-olds, asking who your parents are and what they do. It gets really boring for us at least, to have to keep saying over and over 'I didn't know my dad, and my mom is dead'. The first few stunned looks are funny, but after that, it's just tedious and a little depressing." 

"I can imagine," Ayumu said, actually sympathizing a little bit. 

"My parents are abroad," Hiyono said, munching on a carrot stick from her own lunch box. "It's one thing to be all right with that answer, but they don't stop there. They just keep asking questions like, 'is it for work?', 'what do they do?', and 'aren't you lonely?'." She shrugged. "It probably really is better up here." 

Ayumu remembered what Kousuke had said about all of the Blade Children not knowing their fathers...and then he thought about the story of Sayoko and her mother that Raizo had explained in the locked room murder. Could it be that another piece of the puzzle had to do with their mothers dying too? 

Ryoko shrugged. "I've never experienced being raised by two parents. Just my mother."

"Ditto." Kousuke mumbled absently, finally digging into his own lunch now that he wasn't being mangled. 

Rio tilted her head. "My mother died at birth, so I've mostly raised myself. What's it like to have a father, Hiyono-san?"

The blonde looked thoughtful for a moment, pressing a finger to her lips. "It's hard to say since I don't have anything to compare it to, but... I would say that it's nice. He and Mama are usually really busy with their work and they go abroad a lot, but when they are home, we try to do a lot of things together to make up for it. I get a lot of my best traits from him, Mama says. We're both stubborn." She laughed and shook her head. "I wish you all knew what it was like." 

"Hm...I dunno," Rio said with a small smile. "After all, Kousuke's mother often threatened to sell him to the Gypsies. If she'd had a husband to spend the free time with, she might have actually done it." 

"Oi! Kaasan had more restraint than that." Kousuke protested, waving his chopsticks at her in a mock attack. "She would have waited to get a good deal from the Turkish bordellos first, at least." 

That got a hearty laugh out of Hiyono, and even Ayumu had to crack a smirk. 

"So you knew each other before...?" Ayumu asked curiously. 

Kousuke nodded, taking another bite of rice before answering verbally. "I've known Rio since...about a year before my mother died. Mom liked her, and tended to just go nuts, dressing her in ribbons and frills and feeding her sweets at every opportunity. I think she had a secret dream of matching us up." 

"Somehow, I don't see that happening anytime soon," Hiyono giggled. "She'd walk all over you, Kousuke."

Kousuke pulled a face. "As if she and Amazon Ryoko don't already?"

Ryoko answered that by kicking him.

Ayumu winced. "You bring it on yourself, Asazuki."

"As if you don't have your own problems with crazy girls?" Kousuke retorted, nodding towards Hiyono. "She beats on you almost as much as Ryoko beats on me."

"Yes, but my punches are at least a little bit padded." 

"Dude, she hits you with teddy bears. And there's no power behind them. How can you respect a girl who hits with stuffed animals?" 

"Excuse me! I demand plenty of respect, Kousuke Asazuki, and it has nothing to do with how I hit people!" Hiyono huffed in Kousuke's direction, crossing her arms. 

Kousuke was about to tease her further, but Ryoko got him in another choke hold, and Rio stole his bento box.

"So what about your parents, Ayumu?" Hiyono asked, nudging the brunette again. "You don't talk about them much at all..." 

Ayumu ducked his head a little, but he didn't answer, popping a piece of homemade sushi into his mouth. 

Kousuke noticed the reluctance, but was distracted from anything else when he realized his lunch had been pirated. "Hey...!"

"You deserve it for insulting a girl." Rio replied tartly, happily eating. 

"Mou...!" 

Hiyono grinned, but she still glanced at Ayumu, who didn't seem to be giving her an answer yet. 

Kousuke looked annoyed, and then resigned. He turned to gaze at the suddenly silent Ayumu and wondered if it was really a good idea to push him, if he didn't want to answer. He knew _he_ wasn't going to be the one to do it.

"My parents...died in a car accident when I was twelve," Ayumu finally answered, looking up but not really at any one of the other teens. "It was Kiyotaka that raised me after that, and he was already seeing Madoka at the time. Mother taught me how to cook...and my father kept me interested in learning things. A lot of the focus shifted to Kiyotaka when he started working with the police force. I don't really resent him or them for it, but it does make me wish that I'd had more of a chance to overcome that shadow he'd put over my head." The boy snapped out of it, blinking a few times and shrugging. "I didn't want to be a downer on the conversation." He shoved another piece of sushi into his mouth. 

"Hey, at least you had them, ne? And you never doubted that they cared for you." Kousuke said. "With me, Kaasan would suddenly get this really sad look on her face, every now and again, and I always wondered if maybe she'd have been happier if I wasn't her kid." 

"Don't think like that!" Hiyono snapped, and for once, it wasn't in an annoying way. "Unless you can say with certainty that your mother had no feelings, there's no way that she could have regrets about having you! Mothers love their children, and even if they don't always show it, they're happy to have a child! You shouldn't think that way!" 

"Whoa!" Kousuke said, holding up his hands in defense. "I never said she didn't care. I know she loved me." His expression shifted to something wistful, a soft smile on his face, the first real one Hiyono had ever seen, and only the second or third for Ayumu. "I could hear it when she sang. Kaasan could sing like a bird, and played her harp in perfect harmony with her voice. She used folk songs from her grandmother's country to lull me to sleep at night." 

There was a moment of quiet as they let Kousuke sit with the memory. Ayumu closed his eyes, his face not so much indifferent as it was blank. The tiny crease in his brows proved he wasn't just ignoring them; instead, he was focused on a tiny tingle in the back of his mind. How easily he recalled his own mother so quickly, and the way she'd hum while she fixed dinner for his father. Ayumu lifted another bite of his lunch to his lips, eating thoughtfully now. 

Ryoko looked at Rio. "Did he also get his sick sense of humor from her?" 

Rio shook her head. "No, that little quirk is purely Kousuke. His mother had a much gentler personality...though she could be called on to give one hell of a spanking when he deserved it."

Kousuke shot her a glare, but didn't contest the claim. 

"It's really a shame you had to lose her, Kousuke," Hiyono said sadly. "What about you, Ryoko? Your mom too?"

Ryoko shrugged. "My mother died two years ago, but it wasn't much of a loss for me, to be brutally honest. My mother was always very distant, as if she couldn't bring herself to let me close. Probably for the same reasons why Kousuke's mother would look sad at times. They both knew they'd likely lose us when we grew up. But she did her best with what little of her heart she could give me, and she was the one that first enrolled me in sports, so I have that much." 

Ayumu seemed to bring himself back to the present, having heard what Ryoko said. "Does that mean that...all of your mothers knew what you were?" 

Kousuke nodded. "So far as we know. There might be a few that didn't, but most seemed to be aware of what we were, and what we could become. That's why Kaasan tried to teach me a few things about the musical arts. She'd hoped I'd have at least something to interest me besides survival or bloody murder." 

Rio suddenly snickered. "Oh, like those dance lessons?" 

Kousuke groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Don't remind me. Those were _awful_!" 

Ryoko smirked. "Let me guess, you sucked." 

"Big time." Rio chimed. 

"Somehow, I can't picture you ballroom dancing, Asazuki," Ayumu commented with a shake of his head. 

"Not ballroom. Ceilidh. It's a little like square dancing, but Irish." Kousuke sighed. "Very traditional. Kaasan was big on getting back to our roots."

Hiyono snapped her fingers, grinning. "So _that's _where you got the red hair!"

"What, you doubted the naturalness of the color? Kaasan's was even brighter than mine." 

"I never said I doubted," she replied with a giggle. "But you have to admit that it's not common to this area unless you're a J-rock fan." 

Kousuke wrinkled his nose in a very catlike--and unconsciously very cute--fashion. "Bah. J-rock and J-pop are pretty boring. Give me international stuff any day. European stuff especially." 

Rio smirked. "Oh, so _that's_ why you love Eyes, huh? Just for his music?" 

Kousuke went red. "O-of course not! Stop that!" 

"EEEH?!" Ryoko cried, "When did _this_ happen?!" 

"They just made it official a few days ago! Eyes looked _so_ cute in Kousuke's nightshirt!" 

Kousuke sighed and buried his face in his hands. Rio was in yaoi girl mode again... 

Hiyono looked shocked, but not really put off by the idea. "So you and Eyes Rutherford are a thing, huh? What's it worth to you for me to keep it out of the paper..? I could get half the front page with a scoop like this..." 

Kousuke didn't just look alarmed. He went as white as a sheet. Even if it was just a school newspaper, the likes of which were notorious for being more rumor and gossip than fact, if that ever got into Kanone's hands...  
"You'll do no such thing!" he squeaked. Actually _squeaked_. 

Ayumu shook his head. "Relax, Asazuki, she knows better. And you just fell right into her ploy." 

"It's not easy to shock you, you know," Hiyono added. 

"Eeeesh..." Kousuke uttered, clutching at his chest. "Don't scare me like that. Eyes has a _really_ jealous ex, and if he finds out, he'll skin me. As it is, both Riku and I have been wearing ourselves to threads, making total nuisances of ourselves and popping up wherever those two are when Kanone tries to get Eyes alone. I feel sorry for her. I can take a break during school, but she doesn't attend, so she's got to pick up my slack." 

"And besides," Ryoko said, turning to Hiyono, "who'd believe a weedy little nerd like Kousuke could have landed someone like Eyes? No one would believe it. You couldn't make it less credible if you popped Narumi in there for a threesome." 

Kousuke choked and so did Ayumu. 

That just made Hiyono laugh harder at them. "You might be right about that. Forget I mentioned it." 

Rio tilted her head, considering. "I don't know...if you think about it, it actually makes a really nice image..." 

"Riiiiiioooo..." Kousuke whined. This was doing nothing more than putting Ayumu on the spot, even if she didn't know it. 

"It wouldn't be a very readable story or realistic image," Ayumu stated, finishing the last of his lunch calmly now and packing the box away. "I'm not gay." 

Kousuke inwardly grimaced. _Damage completed. Ouch._ "Eh, I don't know if being gay has so much to do with mine and Eyes's relationship as it does with mutual affection. After all, I'd probably be bi if every woman or girl I knew wasn't psycho..." 

"Teme!" Ryoko growled, chorusing with Rio's annoyed "Kousuke!" They both socked him at once, sending him to the cement floor of the roof. 

"Ow...see what I mean? Sure, breasts are nice, but the ones carrying them are usually violent and crazy..." 

"Now wait just a second! Women only have such survival instincts because men can't think on their own!" Hiyono said, crossing her arms defensively. 

"I'm going to be the intelligent one and bow out of the conversation while I have the chance," Ayumu said, getting to his feet. "I'll be over later for this...meeting thing with Kanone. I'm bringing dinner, so he won't have the option of leaving the building with me." 

"Thank goodness for that," Kousuke muttered, rubbing his sore head. "I'll tell Eyes of your decision." Though it wasn't obvious to anyone else, Ayumu knew which decision Kousuke meant, and it wasn't about meeting Kanone. 

Ayumu nodded and went back into the building, wondering why something wasn't settling right in the back of his mind... 

_Of course,_ Kousuke thought to himself, his gaze fixed on Ayumu for an unguarded moment, conveying the idea without words; _it won't stop us from hoping. The doors are always open.  
_

Open doors.. Ayumu sighed to himself as he jogged down a couple flights of stairs to plop down at the top of one of them. "Why are all of my open doors ones that I don't think I can walk through? The ones I want to open are the ones that are always locked." He ran a hand through his hair, having the distinct feeling that things were only just starting to get complicated.

ooooo

For at least a couple of hours, Eyes saw peace, and he took grateful advantage of it. Sitting at his desk, glasses perched lightly on the end of his nose, he jotted down notes for the upcoming concert, pondering the order of his songs.

Eventually, the door opened a crack, and a familiar head of red hair peeked inside. "Is it safe?" Kousuke asked, his green-gold eyes peering suspiciously around the room for any scary German Blade Children.

Eyes lifted his head, giving the barest of smiles. The lines around his eyes were tight, his shoulders a straight line across. "For now. He is gone on errands," he replied, lowering the pencil.

The redhead nodded and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "How you holding up?" he asked, a little of his concern for the musician showing. "Unlike me, you don't have school as an excuse to escape."

"It's tense," Eyes said, leaning back in his chair. Once the door closed, he relaxed a little. "I'm glad he's gone. How was school?"

"Bah," the older Blade Child snorted, "Stupid classmates, teachers who know less about the subjects than I do, and special for today, nosey parents who bunches of personal questions."

Eyes wrinkled his nose. "Let me guess, something like parent day nonsense."

"Right on the dot," Kousuke agreed, walking over and leaning against the edge of Eyes's desk, crossing his arms. "I had lunch on the roof with the girls and Ayumu."

Eyes couldn't help himself, resting his hand on Kousuke's thigh, needing the contact more than he wanted to admit out loud. "That must have been the pleasant part of your day then."

"Eh, sorta yeah, sorta no. I got bullied by Ryoko and Rio, and they stole my lunch for disrespecting them or something like that."

"Isn't that normal?"

The redhead shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Rio made an ill-placed comment that had Ayumu declaring his not-gayness, so I'm not so sure."

Eyes blinked, pulling off his glasses with his other hand. "It isn't as if that sort of conversation comes up often." He tried not to let his disappointment at Ayumu's declaration show, though he'd gotten a hint of that when he'd gotten so uncomfortable the night he'd saved Kousuke.

"Rio put him on the spot without realizing it, I guess." Kousuke sighed. "It doesn't mean I'll give up, but we did promise to give him space, so I can hardly tie him up and lock him in my closet."

"Much as I'm sure you're tempted." He shifted, resting his head where his hand was on Kousuke's leg. "Much as we tease, it's just a matter of...being around him."

"Yeah, it is." Very gently, Kousuke stroked Eyes's hair, running his slender fingers through the silver silk. "Just like I need to be near you."

Eyes sighed softly, the tight line of his shoulders relaxing some. "Did you tell him...about Kanone?"

"I did. He's agreed to meet with him."

Eyes face almost looked pained before it evened out again. "Of all the times for him not to be stubborn. I had hoped very hard that he'd say no."

"I think it's more that Ayumu's curious. He hasn't gotten answers from us, so now maybe he's hoping that Kanone will tell him something." Kousuke replied.

"Kanone...says that he knows not to." Though his hesitation and his tone said more than words what he really thought of that.

The redhead sighed and caressed Eyes's cheek. "I wish he was gone," he groaned, "He's the scariest guy I've ever met, and he leaves us all feeling like we've been through a meat grinder."

"Yes, I know that well. But all we need to do is let him sniff around, find nothing and go. If Ayumu keeps his head, Kanone will be gone in a few days." He frowned, his brow furrowing. "He keeps changing. More and more, he's stronger, better at words, and...I know there's more."

"More? How so?"

"I don't believe that Jhette's malfunction is a coincidence, not when Jhette had begun to say that he knew Kanone." His brow furrowed a bit deeper. "But...I have no idea how, and thus can't prove it."

Kousuke tilted his head, thinking hard. "I can't think of a way either, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. You and I haven't survived this long by believing in coincidence. Besides, think about the gifts I've suddenly got. What's to say that Kanone doesn't also have some secret 'talent'?"

"There isn't anything to say so," Eyes murmured, turning his face so that Kousuke wouldn't see how much it upset him. Somehow, the redhead would know, even if his expression were blank. "But that just makes it worse."

Kousuke sighed and pulled Eyes up, wrapping his arms around him, wanting the hug just as much as he knew Eyes needed it. "We'll deal," he told the musician. "We'll endure this, and survive it. And then once he leaves, we'll throw a huge-ass party, get riotously drunk, and sleep until noon."

As Eyes's arms encircled Kousuke, tightening warmly, a soft laugh bubbled up from the pianist's throat. "I will hold you to that."

"Do I get to sell the pictures of you dancing on the table with a lampshade on your head? I'd make a fortune off your fangirls." the redhead teased.

"We'll negotiate that," Eyes said, "but first you have to catch me doing that. For all you know, I could sing off-key karaoke."

"I'd still get pictures. I have many hidden pockets, and cameras are easy to hide."

"I'll remember that."

"See that you do," the redhead said with a chuckle, and followed it with a quick kiss.

Eyes returned it gently, then pulled back. "I'll speak with Jhette. I'm hoping that even with his malfunctions, he can still watch over Ayumu when we can't."

"We can hope," the other Blade child sighed, letting go of Eyes with a certain amount of reluctance. With Kanone there, it was a risk to get too close to each other, but it was extremely frustrating not to.

Eyes also looked hesitant to lose the contact. His eyes were fierce though as he looked up at his lover. "I want everyone here tomorrow night when Ayumu comes. The more of us that are here, the better I'll feel about them being on the next floor."

"Everyone who lives here will be here," Kousuke agreed, "but Ryoko doesn't live here, and I want her out of danger. You promised me that, Eyes."

"I have already made arrangements for her, Kousuke. She has not listened," Eyes said, frowning.

"I talked to her today. For now, at least, she's going to lay low."

"And that's where she'll stay," Eyes said, touching his hand. "I do not break my promises."

The redhead smiled, taking Eyes's hand and squeezing it gently. "I know."

"Good." He wrapped his fingers around Kousuke's hand and squeezed. "I'm glad you came to see me."

Kousuke flushed, very slightly. "I wanted to see you." he murmured, feeling almost shy. "I worry about you when you're not nearby."

"From you, it means so much to me," Eyes said. He gave another little smile. "From anyone else, I might just be offended."

The redhead stuck his tongue out at him. "Well, then I guess you're going to hate to hear that we're all worried about you right now."

"I'll tell you the same thing I would tell them," Eyes said with a firm nod. "I'll be fine."

"We still would worry. I'd worry about anyone who has Kanone's attention. I'm already worrying about Ayumu, and they haven't even met yet!"

"Trust me, I know. But what Ayumu doesn't know, he can't tell," Eyes said. "I'll have to hope that's enough."

"We both have to hope that's enough."

"I have to trust him."

"I trust Ayumu," Kousuke protested, "It's just that I don't trust Kanone."

Eyes nodded. "Half of the equation is better than none. We will watch over him. For now, we just have to wait Kanone out. You just be careful also."

Kousuke nodded. "I know. But for right now, I'm not so important in his eyes as you and the Hope. I'll be fine."

"You'd better be," Eyes said.

"Hai, hai. I promise." the redhead replied, squeezing Eyes's hand one more time before letting go. "But now, I'm going to go take a nap before tackling my homework. It's a good excuse to hide in my room for a while."

"I don't blame you, and I only wish I could join you."

"Yeah, so do I. I miss you."

"I'm right here," Eyes told him, his eyes softening as they only could for Kousuke. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"Maybe, but I can't get close to you while Kanone's here, and it's driving me nuts."

"Soon. I swear it."

The redhead grinned and tweaked Eyes's nose. "And I," he said, "shall hold you to that. Now, I should go nap before I end up falling asleep on my feet. I hate how tired I am all the time."

"Sleep well, Kousuke," Eyes said, wrinkling his nose before smiling. "I'll see you later."

"But _just_ see me, alas," the redhead sighed, but gave Eyes another quick smile before taking himself out.

Eyes lingered at his desk for another few minutes, then took the elevator down to the lower level, where the garage was, knowing that a certain truck sat there. It was the only way that he could communicate with Jhette at the moment, since even Riku's attempts at putting him back online had been unsuccessful. After talking to Ayumu and getting the boy's ultimate decision to go forward with meeting Kanone, Eyes hoped that there were some precautions he could take.  
Finding the truck, he gently lay a hand on the hood, touching it gently as if it were a person's arm. "Jhette, can you hear me?" he said quietly. 

At first, there was no reply. But slowly, a flickering image began to form, grainy and indistinct, but obviously the best Jhette could do under the circumstances of the odd malfunction he'd had earlier. "Affirmative, Eyes Rutherford." 

"What is the status of your systems? Are you still having troubles?" he wondered, unable to help some of the concern he couldn't exactly voice. Riku spent more than enough time in the short period she'd been in his home going out of her way to encourage them to treat Jhette as a real person. It was difficult, but Eyes had begun to believe that he deserved it, however unbelievable it seemed. 

Admittedly, Jhette didn't help matters by constantly insisting that he _wasn't_ a real person, as his programming dictated. It was hard to think of someone as human when so much of that person had been subsumed by the machine. 

"Affirmative. Power nodes 5 and 7 are once again functional, but 8 was permanently damaged, corrupting 67.946 percent of the functions it supported. Fortunately, none of those were vital, but it does make certain things a little difficult. Intrapersonal interactions can now only be had here, at my Core, and visual imagery is seriously compromised, as you can see." 

"I do see." Eyes nodded, still puzzling over what had interfered that day when he had appeared before Kanone. Trust himself to be so suspicious that it just didn't settle as a mere malfunction when Jhette claimed to know who Kanone was. "Is it a problem that can be fixed within the system?" 

The faulty hologram moved in a way that might have been a nod. "Affirmative. However, the estimated time needed for complete restoration will be three days, two hours, and thirty-four minutes." 

Almost exactly the amount of time Kanone was staying... 

Eyes pursed his lips, but he made no issue of the time frame, simply nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Forgive me for asking a favor of your already-taxed systems, but this task of high importance." 

"If it is within my limited abilities, I will comply. Please state the nature of your request." 

"I need surveillance on the 22nd floor, as many rooms as possible. It's not necessary as a permanent routine, but I need it from now until tomorrow evening." Eyes closed his eyes, hoping that Ayumu would make it out before the next evening, but he wasn't taking a single chance. 

It may have just been a glitch, or bad imaging, but...it almost seemed like the computerized Blade Child smiled. "Confirmed. My ability to monitor the building was not compromised, just the ability to freely manifest anywhere inside to share the information. To get my findings, one must come down here until repairs are complete. But I will make a point of observing the 22nd floor. Is there anything in particular I must be on guard for?" 

"You can still access data for Ayumu Narumi, correct?" Eyes asked, tilting his head. He was appreciative of the confident smile and the relief that even if he couldn't be there to do it himself, Kanone would be on watch while he was with Little Narumi. 

"...Unsure. Please clarify query." 

"When you were in Hunter Samantha's lab, a young man by the name of Ayumu Narumi assisted you and Riku Sorashima. You should have a catalog of his identification and personal appearance." 

"Ah! Affirmative. File on subject Narumi Ayumu is still on line and accessible. Currently, I am awaiting updated information from Riku." 

"I will have her get that to you. He will be on the 22nd floor this evening with another man, who I believe is not in your data banks.. a certain Kanone Hilbert.." 

Jhette paused. For a long moment, the image just stood there, still and quiet, until the soft but mechanical voice spoke again, this time with a definite tinge of regret. "I...know Kanone Hilbert...but the relevant files were corrupted by the malfunctions, and the data is irretrievable." 

"I see. You'll know him as this man..." Eyes reached into the breast pocket of the blazer he wore and pulled out a clear, yet worn, picture of Kanone. It was recent, sent to him in one of the last few letters. 

A small beam of light shot from the truck that was Jhette's body, running up and down the photo. 

"Scanning...image and information stored in new file. Subject: Kanone Hilbert." 

Eyes frowned, narrowing his gaze. He wanted to ensure that Kanone didn't get a second chance to mess with Jhette's database. "Request special encryption on file 'Kanone Hilbert'. Access restricted only to username: Eyes Rutherford." 

"Acknowledged. Encryption set." Jhette replied. 

"Perfect." Eyes patted the hood before pulling away. "Thank you." 

"Thanks not required. I am only serving my function as a program." the virtual boy replied. 

"Hopefully, your status can be changed to something more...system-friendly." He didn't bother to explain himself, knowing that he would be unable to do it in terms Jhette would accept. "I will check in later." With that, he left the garage, feeling a little bit more at ease about the meeting between Ayumu and Kanone.. 

But not much.


	13. Chapter 13

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 13/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: The connection among Ayumu, Eyes, and Kousuke yields another surprise just before Kanone begins a duel of words with the Hope…

A/N: Koko-chan wishes to apologize to anyone whose brain imploded at the sight of Backstreet Boys lyrics. To add to the disclaimer, we don't own them, either, nor the song. Koko-chan just happens to like it.

ooooo

Ayumu kicked at the door to Eyes's suite, his arms loaded with bags and containers for that night's dinner. He was apprehensive about this meeting with Kanone, but figured that as long as it didn't involve guns or Hunters, he could handle it for the time being. Right now, all it seemed to be was a harmless dinner and some talking. Ayumu knew that he wouldn't want to be too loose with his words, since everyone seemed to be so edgy about the whole Kanone issue. Blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes, he waited for someone to answer the door. 

The first sign that anyone was home wasn't the door being answered, but rather a whisper at the back of his mind, coming through the Web. It sounded like...lyrics... 

_I may run and hide  
When you're screaming my name, all right  
But let me tell you now  
There are prices to fame, all right  
All of our time spent in flashes of light...  
_

The brunet tilted his head, eyes narrowing as he concentrated on the lyrics. He didn't readily recognize them, since they were in English, and he'd only begun to learn that in school. 

The door opened a moment later by Riku, who let him inside with his load of dinner stuff. 

The elevator ride up was peaceful, but the first thing Ayumu heard when the doors opened was Rio's frustrated shriek. 

"EYES!!! Kousuke's doing it again! Please, get him to stop!!!" 

Audible even over her voice was the song that Ayumu had been hearing in the back of his mind. It seemed Rio hadn't been kidding when she warned the brunet about Kousuke's unfortunate obsession with foreign music. 

Eyes sighed, glancing up from some sheet music he'd been looking over on the couch. Rio's protests had brought him back to reality. He'd been trying so hard to forget that Kanone was sitting next to him [read: practically in his lap and he hadn't noticed the loud music. Now the warmth of the brunet's body was startlingly apparent. "Is it really bothering you that much, Rio?" he asked over the din. He honestly didn't mind it for once. 

"It does when he's been doing it for the last twenty minutes, and grabs at anyone who's too close in the hopes of a dance partner! He's blocking the bathroom, dammit!" Rio sounded more than a little ticked. She'd probably been the one grabbed at some point.  
Kousuke may or may not have heard her. All that he did was start singing along with the chorus. His voice was accented, but surprisingly pleasant. 

"_All you people can't you see, can't you see  
How your love's affecting our reality  
Every time we're down  
You can make it right  
And that makes you larger than life!_" 

Like Rio, Kanone was less than amused. Yet another distraction as he tried to get Eyes alone. He had half a mind to give up on being subtle and just doing something permanent to both the redhead and the purple-eyed girl. 

Eyes rose up from the couch, heading over to where Kousuke had been singing, even though it was probably a dangerous venture. 

"Hey, Rio, why don't you forget about Asazuki and come get your dinner," Ayumu called out to her over the music. 

There was a pause, then a squeal as Rio ran over to collect the priceless treasure that was Ayumu's cooking. Though once she was with them and out of immediate earshot, her harried expression turned to something a little more...crafty? "Operation: Distract Kanone is still going fine. Riku, it's your turn to get 'accidentally' sucked into Kousuke's music craze. Otherwise, Eyes really will end up stopping him, and there won't be an excuse anymore." 

Ayumu was already a step ahead of them, placing out the containers of food that had already been pre-made for Eyes's group. He knew that he'd never get away with making Kanone food and not having anything for them. So he'd thrown some homemade curry together for them and had the fresh ingredients for Kanone's dinner in one of the bags. He was now walking over to the brunet Blade Child, hands shoved into the pockets of his snug blue jeans. "You must be Kanone," he engaged the other into an introduction. "Ayumu Narumi." 

Kanone nodded, giving a charming smile and ignoring Riku's squawk as she was suddenly grabbed by Kousuke as a dance partner for the next verse. "Kanone Hilbert. I've heard a great deal about you from Eyes, Narumi-san. It's quite thrilling to finally meet you." 

There was the sound of a loud clang as Kousuke's head promptly connected with the frying pan Riku had managed to snag before she'd been snatched up. 

Ayumu winced as he heard the echo from where he stood. "I wish I could say I've heard a lot about you too, Hilbert-san, but I can't. In any case, I guess that's why you wanted to meet with me, isn't it? Well, I brought some things to make for dinner." 

There was a thump as Kousuke hit the ground, and then sudden silence as Rio finally turned off the loud music with a sigh. She turned to Eyes and gave a biiiiiig smile. "I guess we didn't need you to stop him after all. Never mind!" 

"Ow..." Kousuke groaned, "Girls are _evil_..." 

Kanone nodded. "From what Rio tells me, I will be looking forward to dinner, as well as talking with you. I'm sure we can answer a great many questions for each other." 

"Shall we go then? I have fresh vegetables, I wouldn't want them to sit out too long," Ayumu said, gracefully dodging the other comment, though in the back of his mind, he was thinking that it all depended on the questions. 

Kanone nodded. "I'm staying on the floor below us, and have a small kitchen all to myself. It would perhaps be better to talk away from the chaos the others bring." He glanced back at where Kousuke was only now beginning to pull himself off the floor, arguing with Rio all the way. "I hadn't realized just how..._loud_ Asazuki could be. Let me just go tell Eyes the plan, and then we'll head down." 

Ayumu nodded his head and went back to the counters where he'd placed the groceries. He scooped them up once more, checking to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything for the stir-fry he was going to fix. 

Eyes was watching Kousuke get up with a bit of a bewildered look on his face. While he could actually believe that Riku would bludgeon Kousuke with a frying pan, he hadn't expected to see it for himself. He shook his head in mild disbelief. 

Kanone walked over to Eyes, leaning close to him and placing a hand on the musician's shoulder as he told him where he'd be. It was possibly the farthest he'd seen anyone get into Eyes's personal space besides Kousuke, and that had been in the middle of the night behind closed doors. Kanone was doing this in broad daylight in front of people. 

Kousuke was not appreciative. Though it didn't show on his face, he got royally annoyed--and admittedly, very jealous--at seeing Kanone take such liberties. _Damn sex-crazed anaconda..._ he snarled to himself. 

Ayumu was startled not only by the way that Eyes let this man hang on him, but also at the way he could just _feel_ Kousuke's anger rise. He heard the redhead's growl in the back of his head instead of seeing it come from the teen's lips. 

_I can't believe he just said that_... Eyes's voice entered, and he was looking at Kanone as if afraid what the man would think he'd heard Kousuke's commentary. 

Kousuke blinked, anger temporarily forgotten as he thought he heard Eyes say something. But his lips hadn't moved. _Huh. Must've been my imagination. Or the poisonous miasma of Kannie's presence has finally driven me off the deep end and I'm hearing voices..._

Eyes was confused for a moment, and finally, he met Kousuke's gaze head-on. There had been no words spoken out loud--no one was reacting as if they'd heard anything out of the ordinary. _If it's a deep end, I've just fallen off as well.  
_

"Gah!" Kousuke yelped in surprise, unable to cover the startlement. He immediately wanted to kick himself afterwards for finally drawing Kanone's attention, because the brunet looked his way with a raised eyebrow. 

"Is there a problem, Asazuki?" he asked. 

_Crap._ "Nope! Just hearing voices! I think Riku hit me too hard!" 

Ayumu was watching everything as well, knowing that his lack of reaction was likely better than drawing attention to himself as well. His expression was locked into that careful indifference, but he hoped that Kanone wouldn't so easily pick up on what was happening. 

"Damn right! That's what you get for playing your music loud enough to bug the neighbors!" Riku jumped in, well-used to distraction by now. 

_I hope he'll take that answer and ignore it as your personality...  
_

Kousuke pouted, finally struggling to his feet, pretending to have been hit hard enough for the room to be spinning a little. He was going to have to ask her to teach him that trick of noisy but almost painless frying pan whacking. "What the hell are you talking about, onna? We don't _have_ neighbors!"

"Hmph! And now I know why!" Riku exclaimed, hands on her hips as she glared at Kousuke.

"No, the reason why is that Eyes is a filthy rich bastard and owns the whole building! If it wasn't for his built-in dislike for noisy attention, he'd probably be on his own talk show!" 

Kanone watched the drama unfolding, not all that sure he was convinced. He'd seen the way Eyes had first glanced at him nervously, as if expecting him to react to something. But he decided to say nothing for now. He would talk to Narumi first. And later, if he did not get the answers he needed, he would have a different kind of 'talk' with Asazuki...one where there would be no chance of secrecy. 

"Hilbert-san," Ayumu spoke up. "Are you ready?" 

_I hate letting him be alone with Kanone...  
_

To Kousuke and Eyes both, it felt as if they got an extra burst of confidence, Ayumu's mindset that he would be fine. At least his brush with death had given him a little more of an edge on believing he could overcome things on his own. 

This time, the redhead managed to hide his surprise at having another person in his head. Sure, there'd been the connection through the Web, but this seemed more immediate. More like a touch through the mind than through the soul. 

Kanone turned back to Ayumu, finally removing his hand from Eyes's shoulder and nodding with a smile. "Of course. I'll see you all after dinner, minna-san." 

Eyes waited until Kanone's back was turned to shake off the feeling of his touch and rub at his shoulder where it had been. 

Ayumu opened the door and waited for Kanone to step out so that he could lead the way. 

_You...okay?_ Kousuke asked, trying to deliberately talk to Eyes this time. This was really really weird... 

_I...think so..._

Kousuke gave a mental sigh of relief, and then the thought struck him. _Hey...I know I'm just thinking these things. Since when could you hear thoughts? I can talk through my empathy, but there's no words to that, not really. This is more like telepathy..._

Eyes shook his head. _I'm not sure what that was..or what this is. I heard you say something about Kanone, and I was truly afraid you'd said it out loud.  
_

Riku glanced between them, then put the frying pan down. "They're gone, I'm heading down to the garage to hang with Jhette." 

Kousuke nodded. "I'm going to go to my room and read more of the Hunter's files. There's got to be some clue in there on how to help him. And it'll distract me from wanting to try spying on Mr. Evilness." 

Rio rolled her eyes. "Your nicknames for people get cornier every day. I'm going to go finish my homework." 

Eyes picked up the sheet music he'd been looking over. "I'm going to go rehearse for the concert coming up." He looked at Riku. "Let me know if you notice anything out of the ordinary." 

She saluted. "Yessir!"

ooooo

Downstairs, Kanone showed Ayumu to his borrowed kitchen, and then sat down at the table and out of the way. He knew better than to obstruct a cook at work, especially if Rio's enthusiastic claims to his skill were even half accurate. Besides, he could watch the brunet easily from here, and perhaps pick up small clues to the boy's personality and habits from just watching him move.

Ayumu got straight to work, hunting down cutting boards, knives and frying pans. In no time, he was heating oil for the stir-fry, unpacking the fresh rice from the cooker he had at home and busily chopping vegetables. The last, at least, was the most fascinating for the moment, especially the way his hands worked the knife and the food so quickly it was almost amazing he didn't take off a digit or too. His brows were furrowed, eyes watching what he did at every moment. If there was one thing Ayumu Narumi took seriously, it was cooking. 

Kanone watched for other things. While he noticed the practiced dexterity of Ayumu's hands, he also noted that the boy did not move in any way like a fighter. For all the expertise he used in wielding a kitchen knife, he was probably useless in a real fight. But then, most of what he'd been up against from Eyes and his motley little band had been mental, not physical. And Kanone already knew from Eyes's letters and his own informants that Ayumu was very nearly par with his older brother in intelligence and resourcefulness. 

"I suppose it's too late to ask if you'll eat stir-fry. I forgot that I wasn't cooking for someone who was native to Japan," Ayumu said with a bit of a shrug. He didn't pause in the cutting to glance up at Kanone. 

Kanone shook his head. "That's quite all right. I'm always open to trying new things." 

"Spicy?" Ayumu toyed with the idea of making it spicy anyway, without warning the other young man. But he erred on the side of caution and thought to ask first before he played around with the seasonings and dried red pepper. 

"No, please. I fear I am a horrible spice wimp when compared with most." Kanone replied, every inch the cheerful and mostly harmless young man. Hardly the sort of person that could inspire the wariness that he had seen in the other Blade Children. 

Ayumu wasn't gullible enough to fall for first impressions. Even he was doing a fairly good job himself of maintaining the image he wanted Kanone to see. "Very well." He put the sliced chicken he'd brought over in with the vegetables in the wok. Then he set to making another pan of filling for lettuce wrap. "I hope you don't mind my cooking. I think it's a little more practical than spending money out on something I could just as easily fix myself." 

The older brunet nodded. "Sensible. I've never had to deal with that myself, but it's a practical thing to do in your situation." Kanone continued to watch Ayumu as he worked, trying to spot any sort of sign as to just what exactly the boy was to Eyes. Was the boy a budding Mindbreaker? Or was he merely the victim of Asazuki reaching out in an empathic panic? There was so much that depended on just that one little question. 

"I get the same impression from Eyes.. that you both had a rich upbringing, am I right?" He lifted the wok shaking it enough to toss the vegetables around in with the meat. When he spared his gaze to look at Kanone, it was just as calculating as the way Kanone watched him, both of them doing it under the guise of their own masks. 

Kanone nodded, seeing no reason to hide what was so very obvious just from the unconscious little gestures and mannerisms that he and Eyes shared. "Oh, quite. We're both from the English royal bloodline, though different branches. It doesn't mean all that much, these days, but the family that raised us both is one of the more affluent." 

"Which means that you were afforded a lot of luxuries when you were young." Ayumu didn't sound jealous, because he wasn't. He was quite happy with the way he lived with his parents, and even with Kiyotaka and Madoka. He could appreciate how he'd been raised, so he didn't hold it against anyone who might have been thought to have it "better". "So what do you do now? I know that Rutherford makes something of a living on his tours. Is there some special talent that you have also?"

"Quite a few things, really. I manage the estate, for one. Technically, I am the heir since Eyes has gone. Other than that, I spend a great deal of my time working on a network to keep track of the Blade Children. It's challenging, because we're in residence all over the world. Kiyotaka was rather...stunned at our numbers." 

He was expecting a reaction, Ayumu could almost sense it. So he went in the other direction, stirring the lettuce-wrap filling and looking up again with only a mild spark of interest evident. "If I'm to rate the mere amount of Blade Children I've met in these last few weeks, I would say that the number total in comparison would be a little daunting. I myself was surprised at how many popped up after the first one appeared." 

Kanone chuckled. "That, I'm sure, was mostly Eyes's doing. He's always had the ability to draw others to him. Especially if he thinks there's someone he wants tested." He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "He's told me some interesting tales about you." 

"Is that so?" Ayumu mimicked the motion with his own eyebrow. "There's really not much about me to tell. I wonder how much he elaborated on." He said it casually, and most of it wasn't an act. He was still beyond believing that he was as great as they tried to say, and half of it was because he was still comparing himself to Kiyotaka. 

Old habits were hard to break after all. 

Kanone already knew about Ayumu's lack of confidence when it came to his brother, and secretly thought Ayumu a bit of a fool for willfully keeping himself in the dark, no matter how Eyes and the others had tried to make him look at something other than his brother's shadow. "Quite a bit. Enough that you're apparently getting dragged into our problems with Hunters." He sighed, shaking his head. "You know, I wouldn't hold it against you if you were to walk away from this, no matter what Eyes has told you. It's hardly fair to chain you to our fate just because of Kiyotaka." And if Ayumu could be persuaded to take his potentially dangerous gifts elsewhere, all the better. 

"I think you misunderstand," Ayumu said, wrapping the filling and taking it to the table for Kanone to nibble on as he finished dishing out the main course. "The only way that I become chained to your fate is if I let myself. It has nothing to do with Kiyotaka, and believe me, I _have_ thought about getting out. I don't because this is the first time I've actually been challenged. My teachers tell me at school that I don't apply myself, that I don't seem to care. Why should I when it doesn't challenge me?" 

Kanone raised both eyebrows this time. "So we are a challenge, is that it? Our Fate and Eyes's struggles to avoid it are simply a mental game for you?" Perhaps Narumi Ayumu was emptier inside than he had thought... 

"The Blade Children are complete strangers to me. Obviously, that was what my brother had wanted, or he would have told me _something_ about them before he disappeared." Ayumu's face was carefully expressionless as he served up the stir-fry and rice, bringing it to the table and finally sitting down.

Kanone nodded, _almost_ taken in by what the younger Narumi had said, except for the fact that most of the more recent reports had shown more and more concern towards the Blade Children, even if the boy didn't realize it. And for one as deliberate and cautious as Ayumu, he _had_ to know it. "Interesting how you say Eyes and his friends are strangers, and yet this time, you actually went out of your way to help. First with checking on young Sayoko, and then with helping to rescue Asazuki. No, I don't quite believe that you are as indifferent as you say you are." 

"I never said I didn't have a heart at all, Hilbert-san. After all, Sayoko Shiranagatani doesn't even realize that she _is _a Blade Child, from what I can tell. Why disrupt her life anymore than it already has been unnecessarily?" Ayumu picked up his chopsticks and delicately picked up a pepper, munching slowly on it. "As for Asazuki, I got in his way and got us both snatched up. The least I could do was make up for such a stupid mistake." 

Kanone nodded, conceding the point, but not the conversation. "However, I've been told that one of the results of this rescue mission was a rather unexpected mental link with Asazuki. If you were truly as uncaring as all that, he'd have quite a bit more to say about it than he does. You must admit, Asazuki is rather...loud when upset or annoyed." He tilted his head. "Especially since I know he's empathic, thanks to the things the Hunter did. An empath wouldn't handle indifference well." 

"I would think that indifference is something that an empath would handle quite well," Ayumu contradicted with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I might not know much about it beyond theory, but I would think that indifference would be preferable to extreme emotions." 

"Perhaps, but we're talking about Asazuki." That was really all Kanone had to say about that matter to make a point, and they both knew it. 

Ayumu nodded a little. "True." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really understand the concept of a 'mental connection'. It's hard for me to believe that one even exists." 

Kanone shrugged. "That's what I'm here to find out, as well. Would you mind telling me exactly what happened? I'm sure you're getting tired of repeating it by now, but it's the best way to sort things out." 

"I suppose I'd want to know first why you're concerned about it. From what I've seen of you, and admittedly that's a little, your interest is in Rutherford. Unless I miss my guess, you probably don't care about Asazuki's well being in the least. So why is something that might or might not have happened between myself and him so important?" 

_Touche_, the older boy thought with an inward smile. Ayumu was surprisingly adept at verbal fencing. Still, he was hardly about to get tricked into revealing such things. Kanone tilted his head. "I care quite a bit for the Blade Children, but I'm not blind to how difficult it is to dodge Fate. Eventually, Asazuki will succumb with the rest of us. Any sort of connections then would be...uncomfortable, to say the least. And on another note, the varied abilities and talents of the Blade Children are still mostly unknown. Even if just for the sake of knowledge itself, I'd want to know. Who knows? It may become important someday." 

Ayumu tilted his head. "But Asazuki's not connected to you, and you're not fighting Fate anyway. What use is that?" He was getting the impression that Kanone only cared about _certain _Blade Children, and his interest in what was between him and Asazuki was not for anyone else's gain but his own. 

Kanone chuckled. "Part curiosity, and partly that he is connected to me through Eyes. If only for his sake, I'll always make a point of taking care of those around him." _Just as I eventually plan to take care of you and Asazuki. You're too intelligent, and he's too close.  
_

"I see." Ayumu lowered his chopsticks and steepled his fingers. He wouldn't admit it, but he was slowly losing his appetite. Despite all appearances, he knew better than to think that Kanone was anywhere close to harmless. "In other words, you make it a point to see that nothing gets closer to him than you are?" The question was so smooth, so casual; it was as if Ayumu were asking if it was dark outside or if the flowers were in bloom. 

And just as smoothly and casually, Kanone smiled and shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Hm...unless you think there's something that Eyes hasn't been telling me?" No one had known that Kanone knew about the relationship between Eyes and Kousuke. Ayumu had just put that secret into an area easily discovered. 

Ayumu hadn't meant 'close' as in a relationship; in fact, he'd implied the total opposite. That Kanone was looking for a reason to make that an issue told the younger Narumi that he was right on the mark with the question, in both what he did and didn't imply. "Rutherford doesn't appear to have any feelings for anything other than his own existence. He speaks of fighting fate, avoiding Hunters, and the power to believe. If it weren't for his talents, I would say that he's let the foretold life of a Blade Child consume his life. I doubt there's much room for anything else, especially another of his kind that doesn't believe that Fate can be changed." 

Inwardly, Kanone growled at the implication that Eyes didn't have time for anyone, including him, outside his mission. Still, there were ways to get around that, he knew. "True enough, but one never knows where such hidden sentiment leaks in. After all, is that not what happened with Kiyotaka, that he left his remaining family behind to learn about us...and even assist us, never mind the situation it may put his wife in?" 

_Madoka.._ Ayumu's brow twitched and he turned his attention back to the food, though he really had no desire to eat it anymore. "Kiyotaka's involvement with the Blade Children is a secret, even to me. Funny how every Blade Child I've ever met knows quite a lot about my family, yet none of us except my brother knew a single Blade Child until after he was gone. I wonder why that is." 

Kanone made a note of the tiny furrow along Ayumu's brow. It seemed the younger Narumi's sister-in-law was a weakness. "Hm. Kiyotaka invested a great deal of care and effort into trying to find a way to help us fight fate. Though he spoke about you a great deal more than his wife. Almost like he intended to include you from the start." 

"It was nice of him to tell me of that intention. Then again, it might not have been so challenging to me if I knew what to expect, now would it?" Ayumu chewed a bite of rice and chicken very slowly to make sure he could swallow. The fight to keep his composure was a lot harder than he thought it would be, especially since this game was one of masks and words, worse than any of the tests that Eyes's Blade Children had thrown at him, and only slightly less comfortable than being poisoned. 

And Kanone still looked as calm and collected as ever, just eating quietly during gaps in the conversation. "No, but I'm rather startled that he would just drag you in without a second thought when its quite well known that you are, at best, a pale imitation of him. I'm honestly not sure what he thought you would do." He tilted his head, as if in thought. "Perhaps he was planning on his wife following you?" 

There it was, that feeling of cold heat that forced its way down Ayumu's spine. And just when he'd thought he was speaking to Kanone as if they were equals. So it seemed the reputation of being in the shadow of his brother hadn't been dispelled. "What do you mean, 'following' me?" he asked, only the tiniest bit of an edge in his voice. 

_Got you. _"Why, learning about the Blade Children because of your involvement with us, of course." Kanone said out loud, looking astonished that he hadn't thought of that. "She _is_ part of the police like Kiyotaka, correct? Naturally she would be suspicious that you so often end up crossing her trails. And I've heard she's a remarkably smart woman. Maybe she was the one he wanted here, and not you." 

"If that were the case, then why isn't Rutherford testing her?" Ayumu asked, forcing himself to take another bite, each move deliberate. "He's not stupid. If there was a chance she was the one they were after and not me, they wouldn't be wasting their time. Too many steps were taken, too many promises made." 

"But if Kiyotaka wanted all attention kept away from her?" Kanone suggested. "If he hoped for her to work unopposed, the best way to do that is to have something flashy around to catch the eyes of those that might be watching. And what could be more so than the ever-so-slightly-less-gifted little brother? Eyes tests you and everyone's attention is on you and off her. I'm fairly sure that most don't even remember Kiyotaka's married." 

"That means that everyone's attention is where it should be." Ayumu's voice was tight, firm. If it was true, he'd rather that everyone have the wrong idea. But if that were really the case, the younger boy thought that it was possible he could hate his brother for putting Madoka through that. If things had backfired, they might have killed her all those times they were trying to kill him. Ayumu felt a headache coming, and his appetite likely wouldn't return now. 

Kanone decided to end the talk while he still had the high ground. He finished his food and gave another of those guileless smiles he was so very good at. "You're an amazing cook. Have you ever considered using it for world domination?" 

"Asazuki wondered the same. I don't want the world." _I just wish it would make sense.  
_

Kanone, once again compared to Asazuki, had to stifle a growl. Even when that idiot cat wasn't here, he was getting on his nerves. And since he'd gotten damn few answers out of the younger Narumi, he was definitely going to have a quick talk with the redhead tonight. 

Ayumu, never the rude guest, stood up to pack away the leftovers and bus the dishes. He felt as if he'd gained a tiny bit back from the conversation if the tightness of Kanone's lips was any indication. "Hilbert-san.." 

"Yes, Narumi-san?" Kanone asked, gracefully getting to his feet. 

"I may be the 'slightly-less-gifted' little brother of Kiyotaka Narumi, but I'm not stupid," he replied, leaning on the counter and meeting Kanone's coffee-colored eyes. "The purpose of you meeting me was to learn things about me that you couldn't get through your normal channels. And you have channels. The fact that you know so much about what happened with the last Hunter prove that quite effectively. It might do you good to know that no matter how much you try to break down my indifference, you can't get answers from someone who doesn't know them himself, and Madoka knows less than I do. The real question here becomes, 'what does someone who won't deny Fate care about the tiny handful of those that do...unless he was threatened by them?' I'm nothing to be afraid of. After all, I'm just a pale imitation of the great Kiyotaka Narumi, right?" 

Kanone gazed at him with those imperturbable honey-brown eyes, then smiled. "So long as you believe that, you never will be any sort of threat, Narumi-san. If you are so intelligent, perhaps you should consider that. After all, why do you think Kiyotaka loved irises so much? And if you can't grasp that meaning, even after all the tests that you've been put through, no amount of sudden gifts you might show will help you or us." 

"My intention was not to be a threat in the first place, it's all a matter of perception. And what will you stand to gain by any gifts I might obtain?" 

Kanone raised an eyebrow. "How can I say, when you tell me little about what those gifts are?" 

"All I know is that I'm expected to save the Blade Children from fate. Is that what you want from me too?" 

Kanone chuckled. "Of course, if only to make Eyes happy. He's the one who truly worries about it, after all. I don't personally think our Fate is that big a deal." It wasn't a lie, not completely. And since Ayumu didn't have the full story on what the Fate of the Blade Children was, he'd be left confused and off-balance.

Ayumu stared at Kanone for a few minutes, as if trying to decipher the truth of that for himself. "It's contradictory, how you speak. Which works to your advantage since I have an obvious handicap. Until I learn otherwise, I have only to assume that the Fate means different things to different Blade Children." 

Kanone chuckled and shrugged. "I can't tell you anything about that at this point in time. Eyes would be upset, since he's doing his best to find just the right moment to explain it all to you." 

Ayumu's laugh was dry. "Is there a right time?" 

"That's up to Eyes, now isn't it?" Kanone asked. Though if Ayumu became a threat, Kanone just might have to take matters into his own hands, and he knew it. 

"That's not what I'm asking, but I guess if you're going to just let him have that control, then it's up to you." Ayumu had no idea how effective those words might have been when he said that, the full impact on how carefully Kanone tried to hold Eyes unknown to the younger teen. 

It annoyed Kanone, but not as much as some of the other things said tonight. After all, he had always allowed Eyes a certain amount of freedom, because it gave Eyes the illusion that he was in control of himself. "Saa, everyone needs to have control of something in their lives, Narumi-san. It's human nature." 

"I suppose you're right," Ayumu conceded without much protest. He didn't want to argue, nor did he want to lose such an argument because he knew he was on the uninformed side of things. 

Kanone nodded, and decided it was probably best to end the evening here, while he still had the upper hand. He hadn't gotten his answers, but he had other trails he could follow. "It's getting late, so I'll leave you to pack up and get home. It was a pleasure to meet you." 

Ayumu only wished he could share that sentiment. "The same. I'm sure our paths will cross again before you leave Japan." 

Kanone smiled. "Perhaps. It all depends on Fate, I suppose." And it did. Because if he found Ayumu to be a threat to fate, Kanone would naturally have to do something about it.


	14. Chapter 14

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 14/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Eyes and Kousuke learn the hard way that being alone with Kanone is dangerous.

ooooo

Kanone walked quietly down the hall of the 23rd floor, noting with some satisfaction that no one was around. Narumi Ayumu had stayed on the floor below, obviously trying to gather his composure. Eyes was preparing for his concert. Rio and Riku seemed to have vanished utterly into some hidden corner of the building. He had already whispered a spell to keep Jhette's prying sensors trained away from him for a while.

And his quarry was sitting alone and defenseless behind the door marked with a red biohazard sign. Kanone had a great many questions that he had brought with him to Japan in regard to the connection between Ayumu and Kousuke, but Ayumu had been less than forthcoming. So, Kanone would now drag the answers out of the nekojin. And unlike with the unknown variable that was Ayumu, there was no reason for subtlety or gentleness with Kousuke. Not that he was in any way leaning towards such merciful feelings with the redhead, anyway. Not with the fool daring to approach Eyes and try to steal him away.

Such insolence had to be punished, however indirectly and quietly.

Kanone pushed open the door, moving as silently as only one of his bloodline could. Vampires could move with a stealth that fooled even the sharp senses of the animal spirits, and he used that now to get inside the room without Asazuki noticing and possibly making an outcry. Kanone didn't want anyone to think he had done anything untoward, after all.

He actually got within five feet of the nekojin before he realized he wasn't alone, something that Kanone was rather smug about. Kousuke simply was too wrapped up in the files he was reading, sipping at a can of soda and curled up on the wide windowsill, to notice his presence until it was too late.

The redhead looked up, his eyes widening in surprise, and yes, even a little fear, his mouth opening to either yell or ask questions. But he froze for a split second in shock as Kanone moved as quickly as a striking serpent, the magic in his soul gathering in his hand. That split second was the redhead's undoing. Before Kousuke could do much more than get half to standing, Kanone had driven that hand deep into Kousuke's chest, taking hold not of the redhead's heart, but of his soul. He pulled it out of the body with a jerk, and watched in satisfaction as the lanky frame fell limply to the floor like a puppet that had had its strings severed, the soda slipping from the now nerveless hand to spill on the wooden floor.

In Kanone's hand was a crimson ball of light, flickering in its anxiety, but helpless and disoriented. This was the German Blade Child's most prominent ability, to manipulate and read souls through his magic. Since everything about a person was connected through the soul, Kanone could get any information he wanted by reading them. Just as he started to do now. The color of the soul itself was a sign of the person's strongest quality. In Kousuke's case, he was unsuprised to note the bright red hue of courage. But it was the deeper secrets and facts that he was most interested in.

The information that he found rather startled him at first. Kousuke wasn't just a lover for Eyes. The stupid feline was actually _in love_ with him. That was a foolish thing for a Blade Child, but Asazuki hadn't cared, and his gift of empathy, awakened early, had just helped to solidify that love. It didn't even seem to matter to the redhead that Eyes obviously did not return the feelings past a certain level of caring!

There was also need and lust for Narumi Ayumu, but in both quantities and qualities of such emotions that promised an equal love if the conditions were right. But there were memories of Ayumu being frightened and shocked by the possibility of being with Eyes and Kousuke in such a capacity, and of the younger brunet declaring himself to be quite straight. It was unlikely that love would ever be returned here, either, and yet Kousuke still insisted on caring. In Kanone's opinion, that made him twice the fool.

The Web was exactly that, a web made up from the mind, heart, and soul of those that were joined in it. Narumi Ayumu _was_ a Mindbreaker, as Kanone had feared, and his bond to Kousuke as the Empathic Pillar was near unbreakable now, it was so deep.

But what made Kanone want to snarl with jealous rage was that Eyes was also part of this Web already, and thus sealed off from Fate. He was the Telepathic Pillar, but the bond wasn't quite as strong as Asazuki's. It was newer, for one thing, and Eyes didn't have quite as much contact with Ayumu as Kousuke did. But it was still there, a part of the one thing that could disrupt the fate of the Blade Children.

Narumi Ayumu, for all that he didn't understand just what he had done, was now officially a threat. If Kanone could not somehow persuade him to withdraw from the Web and let it collapse in on itself, he would have to be removed forcefully.

Kanone sighed in exasperation. Hizumi had warned him that Eyes would just muddle things if left to follow his little quest without a proper leash, but had he listened? No, and now there was a mess to clean up. Wonderful. But first things first, he had to decide what to do with Asazuki. Kanone already knew that he wouldn't remember this, because none of the people he'd ever extracted the souls from remembered it later.

He was sorely tempted to just crush the little ball of ruby light in his palm, destroying the boy and leaving nothing but a shell to waste away slowly. It would have served him right for daring to touch what was not his. However, he also knew that the Web would protect Asazuki from any such thing, as it had done to keep him from being swallowed by Fate and out of Hizumi's grasp. Forcing his way past the Web to kill Asazuki would take altogether too much power and effort, not to mention alert the other two members of the Web that something was amiss.

Kanone regretfully resigned himself to the fact that killing Asazuki right now was out. He glanced down at the soulless body, with its empty green-gold eyes staring into space, and absently noted that in that state Kousuke was actually mildly attractive. That annoying smirk and frustrating spark of mischief in the eyes was gone, leaving him with the appearance more fitting to one of his type. He made a much better doll than person, in his opinion. It was really a pity he couldn't keep him that way. He knew that the moment the redhead woke up, he'd be doing his best to disturb Kanone's advances on Eyes again, as he and that dratted wench Riku had been doing for the last several days.

At least Riku would probably be elsewhere for the rest of the evening, but once Kousuke woke up…

Well, there was the answer! And not only would it keep Kousuke out of his hair, but it would make a very effective test to see just how deeply under Eyes's skin the little pest had already gotten! Kanone smirked to himself and knelt down by the still body, carefully replacing the soul that he had removed, watching as Kousuke slowly regained consciousness and control of his body. But once again, before the redheaded Blade Child could cry out for help or even ask what had happened, Kanone caught his eyes with his own amber-brown gaze.

Like any powerful vampire, Kanone had the ability to roll over and control other people's minds, and he used that ability now as he gazed into fearful orbs of summer-laced green. Kousuke tried to fight, of course, but his mind and body were both still fatigued and weakened from the ordeals that he had been through with Samantha Gray, and was no real match for Kanone's strength. The Englishman had him in his thrall in seconds.

"Sleep, Kousuke," was all he said, but it was more than enough. Against his will, Kousuke's eyes fluttered closed, his body once more going limp against the floor as he slipped into a deep sleep, and he would remain so for at least twelve hours, if not more, and the conventional means of waking him would be useless. Oh, it wouldn't stand up to a real shock or someone who had a deep connection with him, but Kanone rather doubted anyone would think to try such things. Not when everyone knew that Kousuke had still been recovering, and that there were still concerns about his health.

And with Kousuke trapped in sleep, there would be no one to interrupt his time with Eyes.

Smiling to himself, Kanone got up and walked to the door as silently as he had entered, but left it open. He took a position outside it, as if he had just opened the door himself to talk to Kousuke, and then schooled his face into one of mild concern. At the same time as he dropped the spell to delude Jhette, he raised his voice to call for help…

ooooo

"Eyes! Asazuki's collapsed!" Kanone's voice rang through the halls, cutting across the sound of the musician's piano. But the shout wasn't the only sign that something was wrong. On the web, Kousuke's presence had faded to almost nothing, just the barest sense of his aura. 

Down in the garage, Jhette had also given the alert to Riku. 

Eyes immediately quit playing and bolted up from the piano. He'd made a move to run to the redhead, but stopped himself before he reached the door to the hallway. He couldn't run...as much as he hated it, he couldn't give Kanone any fuel to go after Kousuke. It was bad enough that he was already questioning why it was _Kanone_ that had "discovered" Kousuke's collapse. He took a deep breath and made a quick, but not panicked, pace to the other Blade Child's room, his face schooled into a careful mask of mild concern. Approaching Kanone, he peered into the room. "What happened?" 

Kanone shook his head. "No idea. Little Narumi wouldn't tell me much about his connection to Asazuki, so I came to ask him about it. But he didn't answer when I knocked, so I opened the door and found him like that," he said, gesturing to the crumpled figure. 

It was a story that made sense, but not one that Eyes would believe until he knew the real truth, and he hoped that Jhette had been watching. Sighing as if Kousuke had done something he shouldn't have, Eyes stepped into the room to pick up the redhead from the floor. 

Riku was coming through the front door as Eyes moved him to the bed, coming up alongside of Kanone. She was mercurial by nature, so it showed suspicion in her eyes when she glanced from Kanone to Kousuke. 

Rio came in right behind Riku, and nudged the girl to keep that suspicion from becoming too obvious. She was worried when Kousuke didn't even twitch as Eyes moved him. Sure, Kousuke could sleep through a train wreck, but _not_ if someone touched him. 

Eyes was thinking the same, but he let nothing show on his face. Riku took a silent, deep breath to calm herself, watching as the Englishman placed Kousuke on the bed, trying once to rouse him with a nudge. He frowned slightly when the other didn't even stir, but he wouldn't make a show of things until Kanone was gone. "If he was overworking himself, he'll need to rest." He came to the door, making a motion to wave everyone away from it as he shut it. 

Rio bit her lip. "I think we should have someone stay with him, Eyes. Just in case. Him passing out for seemingly no reason like that makes me nervous." 

Kanone nodded. "She's right, Eyes. Riku-san, you two seemed to have a good relationship going. Would you mind watching him?" he asked her, inwardly smirking. This was turning out better than he had planned. This would get rid of _both_ major interlopers. 

_Snake.. _Riku couldn't help thinking, but she nodded her head. "I'll keep watch on the annoying bastard." She resisted the urge to slam her elbow into Kanone's chest as she brushed past him, going into the room and shutting the door behind her. 

Rio silently applauded her restraint and helplessly watched as Kanone followed Eyes back to the music room. There was a definite 'don't follow' air, and she knew that ignoring that would get her in a lot of trouble. But she couldn't help worrying about Eyes. 

A hand fell to her shoulder as the door to the music room clicked closed. 

"What's going on?" Ayumu asked, frowning at the way the place seemed so closed off and Rio looked less than happy about it. 

Rio glanced up at him, agate-gray eyes showing her worry. "Kousuke collapsed, Riku's been asked to watch him, and Kanone's alone with Eyes." 

The brunette let out a quiet sigh. "It sure doesn't take long for things to get complicated, does it? I knew something was wrong." He neglected to mention _how_ he knew, since he hadn't been sure if that 'sense' of Kousuke fading to a dull presence in the back of his mind had just been his imagination. Apparently, it hadn't been. 

"It's very complicated, and I don't have any way of fixing it." the young woman sighed. "It worries me that Kanone was the one to find him. But there doesn't seem to be any sign of violence or that Kanone did anything but open the door." 

"Isn't there a way that Jhette-san could have seen what happened?" He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. 

Rio sighed. "He didn't say anything, so we can only assume he didn't see anything. Poor Jhette's been a little glitchy the last few days. He had a malfunction of some sort, and it really scrambled some things." 

"Great.." Ayumu shook his head. "Come on, help me put the leftovers away. Unless we see anything else out of the ordinary, we can't just barge in and make something out of nothing. Give the enemy room to make his own mistakes." 

Rio glanced at him and gave a weak smile as she moved to help. "I don't want to risk offending you, but you're thinking more and more like a Blade Child." 

"I'm beginning to think that I have no other choice. No offense taken." 

Rio nodded and helped to put away the leftovers, wondering if she could sneak back in later and steal them all to hide in her room for snacking. For Ayumu's cooking, she'd risk Riku's wrath.

ooooo

Eyes more than wished that Kanone would have left after he realised that he wouldn't be able to get the answers he wanted now. It was too much to ask for to have a chance to look over Kousuke himself and get the reassurance that the redhead was all right. Instead, he felt the walls, spacious though they were, closing in on him the moment Kanone shut the door behind them. Game on. 

"Well, I'll certainly say that your home is quite active. This is the first time alone we've had since I got here." Kanone murmured. _And that took more work than it should have...  
_

_I should have known you'd use Kousuke's collapse to get to me... which makes me believe your story less and less.._ "So it seems. Did you enjoy Little Narumi's cooking?" Eyes asked quietly, wandering over to the windows and staring out like he was prone to do when he was thinking. He could see Kanone's reflection in the glass. 

Kanone nodded. "He should open a restaurant. He'd be rich within a year with cooking like that." Kanone knew Eyes was watching him, and met his eyes in the reflective surface of the mirror. 

"Let him get out of high school first, I think that would be better for him." Eyes didn't look away, somehow getting the impression that this was the safest way to hold gazes with Kanone right now. 

Though what counted as 'safe' really didn't apply when it came to Kanone. He had no problem approaching while Eyes was watching him. "Maybe, but many people begin their life's work before getting out of high school. After all, every Blade Child in the world has." 

"I would think that having to survive what he's been thrown into lately counts as life work at this point." Eyes braced himself, body very still as Kanone got closer. That phantom ache in his side nudged at him, but he tried to ignore it, knowing that the bigger problem was the man closing the distance between them. 

Kanone chuckled. "Well, you were the one who decided that the tests needed to be potentially lethal." He reached up and ran light fingers down one bare arm. "Though if you were looking for the key to Fate, that seems rather counterproductive." 

Involuntarily, Eyes shivered. "Not if he survived. We knew that if he was too weak to withstand what we could give him, he was not suited to fight Fate regardless." 

"Saa, do you plan everything in your life around fighting Fate, Eyes?" Kanone sighed, turning to look at the silver-haired boy. He reached up to run a hand through the shimmering hair, smiling a little at its silky texture. "If you obsess too much, you'll just exhaust yourself." 

Eyes could ignore the pleasant tingle going down his spine for only a moment to answer. "And if I stop to rest, it might overtake me before I even realise it. You made me aware of what I was, and yet you always seem so surprised that I'd deny it with everything I am. I never understood how you could resign yourself to a life that was not your own planning."

Kanone smiled and let his fingers trail from the hair down that pale neck, just the barest whisper of a touch. "To each their own, I suppose." 

Eyes wondered if he could back away without being obvious and quickly came to a negative answer. "Then I suppose we are even then." He wanted to say equal, but he knew that Kanone would find some clever way to refute that. 

"Perhaps, but tonight I think I'd like to think of something besides Fate." He moved quickly, managing to push Eyes up against the window and pinning him there, gazing deep into startled blue eyes, his hands on those sensitive hips. With luck, this time they wouldn't be interrupted. 

Eyes stared back at Kanone, an icy anger deep within those blue depths. To his chagrin, it was a desirious hatred, provoked by the way that Kanone assumed he could be this close anymore. "That's a first." 

"Not really. I wasn't thinking of Fate the first time I made you mine." Kanone murmured, secretly amused at the anger. He'd let his pet run free for a touch too long, but it was easy to fix. He knew exactly how to make all that anger and all the fear turn in on itself and become desire, and he started the process now, just by tightening his hold on those narrow but sensitive hips. 

Eyes's lips tightened to a thin line as he tried to fight back another shiver of pleasure at the possessive grip. Kanone had broken him in too well when he hadn't had a chance to stop it, and he hated that reality more than he cared to admit. "That was a long time ago, Kanone," he murmured softly, arching a little against the window without thinking of it, hips rising into Kanone's hands. 

"Not that long," Kanone replied, using that arch to slide one hand to the musician's lower back, kneading lightly at the area. Kanone's eyes narrowed, the hold going a little posessive as he leaned in closer, only inches away from the other. "You are _mine_, Eyes. And you will be so long as you still respond to me. No matter what sort of bonds others place on you." The last was an allusion to what he'd learned from Asazuki, but purposely vague to keep Eyes guessing what he meant. There was no way for the musician to tell if he was talking about knowing about the Web, his involvement with Kousuke, or something else entirely. And the fact that Eyes had hidden things from him on all counts would keep him off balance and vulnerable. 

Eyes tried to flatten himself against the glass, which was a moot point now that Kanone held him by the small of his back as well. "I'm not property to be owned, Kanone. I'm only yours if that's what I choose." God but the warmth that spread out from the brunette's touch burned him. "Sooner or later...you'll have to let go.." 

"Then I merely have to make sure that I am the only choice for you." Kanone murmured, the mild threat punctuated by how Kanone dug his nails into the small of Eyes's back. The other hand trailed upwards, moving towards the musician's shoulders. "There is no one who knows you or your body as well as I do, Eyes. Most would give a great deal to say that about a lover." 

A soft, shaky breath was taken in through thin, trembling lips. Eyes let his head tip back just a little, but not enough that he couldn't focus on Kanone's darkly smug expression. "What you learned came from taking advantage of my needs, Kanone. You made sure I had a reason to come to you, and then took what you wanted, giving me answers only when I pleased you most." 

"Most of the answers were not ones you needed to hear." Kanone replied, running his hand over Eyes's shoulder, knowing he had no defense against that one thing. "And I plan on making sure you always have a reason to come back to me. You are one treasure that I would be insane to let be stolen from me." He finally closed the small gap between them, pressing his lips against Eyes's in a hard and posessive kiss. 

Eyes mentally cursed, his hands coming up to press against Kanone's chest, but there was no strength behind them. He wanted to push the other away, make sure that he didn't get close enough to feel how frantically his heart beat now. It felt as if Kanone's power over him melted him from within, and it made him feel even more like a traitor to Kousuke. He was afraid...not only of what Kanone could do to him, but what Kousuke would think of him after. His own body acted without him, Kanone's presence and actions acting like a trigger to things he'd tried to forget. 

Kanone smiled into the kiss, pleased at the conflicting signals he got from Eyes's body, hinting at both the need and the fear. No matter who Eyes tried to give it to, Kanone knew he still had an iron grip around Eyes's heart. He let his hands wander, sliding under Eyes's vest to touch the skin _just so_, fanning the sparks of desire into a flame. _I have you now, Eyes..._

_...no... I can't let this happen again..._ But already, the spell had been worked over him, and his fingers curled in Kanone's shirt. Once more, he tried to push away, but when those skilled fingers began to gracefully attack skin, he couldn't do it.  
_  
_Ayumu's head snapped up from the leftovers he'd finally gotten the appetite to try again, and he lowered his chopsticks slowly. Trying to identify the sudden fear in the back of his mind was a little bit easier once he realised it wasn't his own emotion. His amber eyes fixed on the closed doorway at the end of the hall.

Kanone broke the kiss, instead attacking Eyes's neck with the same expertise that he used with the rest of Eyes's body. His hands continued to glide over the pale skin, reaching the sensitive area at the base of his spine, where he dug his nails in, just a little. He could feel how the normally cool skin was heating up with arousal, and knew it was only moments before Eyes's control shattered completely. 

Rio looked up from her own pilferings of the leftovers to gaze worriedly at Ayumu. "Little Narumi? Daijobu?" 

"Rutherford," was all the brunette would say before he took off at a fast stride down the hallway.

Rio watched Ayumu take off, and while tempted to follow him, she thought better of it. Kanone was going to be angry, and she'd rather it was at someone _not_ under his authority, however tenuous. He'd have a far harder time getting back at Ayumu than at her. Instead, she decided to start the process of damage control. She walked to the door of Kousuke's room and knocked, but didn't bother to open the door. "Riku, wake Kousuke up! I don't care _how_, but do it! Eyes will need him!" 

Riku cracked her knuckles nervously. She'd tried shaking Kousuke, pinching him, even smacking him a couple of times to wake him and it hadn't worked. This sleep wasn't something normal. "Rio. Get me a bucket and some ice."

"Kanone...don't..." Eyes gasped, already panting as he felt himself break down into the fragile core that Kanone had taken for himself before. He couldn't hold on much longer, the realisation that he was trapped here alone, with nothing to come between them this time, hit him hard, and he looked away from those piercing dark eyes.

"Shhh," Kanone soothed, moving down Eyes's neck to press a light kiss to the musician's fluttering pulse. "You'll enjoy this, I promise." The fangs he normally kept hidden scraped against the delicate skin, doing that much more to make Eyes's body burn, just because even if the musician himself didn't want it, the body associated the feel of being bitten with the pleasure from the encounter with Kousuke. 

Blue eyes widened almost impossibly as the silver-haired Blade Child realised what Kanone was about to do. He squirmed to no avail, only moving himself within those touches and possessive holds. "...stop...please..." 

Kanone silenced Eyes's protests by raking his nails over his lower back. It was, in his opinion, high time that he marked Eyes properly.

Rio ran and got the largest bucket she could find, filled it with ice, and than ran cold water over it to help it melt faster. Then, with much cursing and claims of how she was never going to forgive Kousuke if this didn't work, lugged it back to his room and kicked the door open. "Here!"

Riku grabbed the bucket from Rio and closed the door behind them, having heard Kousuke brag about the room being soundproof. She only hoped he was right.  
"You're going to thank me for this later," she murmured before dumping the entirety of the ice cold water on the unconscious redhead.

It was a good thing that the room was soundproof, or they might have heard the shriek Kousuke made in Australia.

"Well, it's about time!" Riku said, dropping the pail and putting her hands on her hips triumphantly.

Eyes knew better than to scream. He knew that if he did, the consequences would likely be worse for those around him if he did. It was the fear of that that kept him quiet, let him turn his head in defeat, baring his neck for Kanone.

"Call me crazy, Hilbert-san, but I get the distinct impression that Rutherford isn't interested."

Kanone whirled, glaring at Ayumu as he leaned casually in the doorway. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock?" he growled.

Ayumu tilted his head. "About as well as yours taught you the meaning of the word 'no'." 

"Little Narumi," Eyes said breathlessly, trying to regain his composure. His voice was a mixture of embarrassment and reprimand, but something a little more than that.

Kanone recognized that unknown element, even if the other two didn't, and it just made him angrier. Eyes held the same interest in Ayumu that Asazuki did. _I will have to think up something..._special_ for Narumi Ayumu. He's definitely overstepped his bounds. _"I don't feel the need to explain myself to you." he snapped, finally letting go of Eyes. The moment was over now, anyway. 

Eyes slumped against the glass for a moment, trying to catch his breath. That had been too close, and he knew that Kanone was angry. He could _feel _it, which only made him wish that Ayumu had never come to his aid. 

"I never asked you to explain yourself, Hilbert-san, but you should learn where you're welcome and where you're not." Ayumu stood his ground for once, knowing that because Eyes was so strong, feeling that kind of fear from him deserved some knid of reaction. 

Kanone's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Ayumu got a glimpse of what it was that scared the other Blade Children so much in those glittering umber eyes. However, Kanone knew better than to just react out of anger. It was better to cool down and plan accordingly. "So should you, Narumi Ayumu. So should you," he hissed, and stormed out of the room. 

Ayumu hadn't interrupted things to get a thank you, so when Eyes gave him a mixed look of fear and something uncontrollable, then bolted out of the room, Ayumu didn't stop him.

Eyes hurried into his room, trying to make it to the bed, but he collapsed somewhere halfway there, hugging himself and shaking. The fevered desire that had been brought to such a pitch by Kanone was still there, tingling along his skin and burning deep in his chest. He should be able to get his control back...Kanone was gone... 

Back in Kousuke's room, the redhead had finally calmed down from incoherant swear words enough to give Riku a glare that could and probably did peel the paint off walls. "Omae o korosu." he growled, trying to wipe at his dripping face with an equally sodden sleeve. _Why_ was it always water?! 

"Save it, hothead...I was running out of nice ways to try and wake you up," Riku growled back, something in her tone a little more husky than usual. She meant business this time, and the look on her face detailed that the situation was serious. 

Kousuke blinked, looking at himself. "I was asleep?" Sure enough, he was on his bed, which was now just as soaked as he was."Aw man, this is gonna take at least a week to dry out..." 

"We have more important things to worry about. What happened to you?" 

The redhead just looked soggy and confused. "What do you mean?" 

"The bastard downstairs told us that you'd passed out on the floor when he'd come to talk to you. What were you doing?" She paced the floor. 

"I passed out...? Wait, _Kanone_ found me passed out?! He was alone with my defenseless body?!" Kousuke shuddered. "And I wasn't doing anything but reading those files that we looted and drinking a soda." He glanced over at the floor by the window. "Which is currently ruining the finish on the wood floor." 

Riku frowned and crossed her arms. "We suspect foul play, but there's no proof. Are you all right? Do you feel any pain?" 

"I feel fine. The last thing I remember is reading about how the Hunter got all happy when she found she could interface Jhette with a machine with a reasonable chance of survival. After that, I wake up soaked and fucking cold." 

Riku sighed. "I guess we won't know then. Rio, what was happening with Eyes-san that he needed Kousuke awake so quickly?" 

Rio looked really unhappy. "Kanone got Eyes alone. Little Narumi ran off to save the day, but I think we can all guess what shape Eyes will be in, regardless." 

Kousuke went pale, then growled as he struggled off the bed, forgetting that he was wet, cold, or that he'd supposedly passed out for no reason and been found by Kanone of all people. All that mattered now was that Eyes was going to need him, and that if Kanone was still anywhere near him, there was going to be bloodshed. 

Riku helped him to his feet, going to the door and opening it just in time to see Ayumu passing by. He glanced at her and then at Rio, who wasn't far behind. "He's gone." 

Kousuke could feel Eyes, now that he was more alert, and his heart ached at the tangled knot of fear, lust, and self-hatred. But he didn't sense Kanone near him, and from what Rio said, that was Ayumu's doing. Not caring about the state of his sodden clothes, he pulled the brunette into a rather squishy hug. "Thanks," he whispered, then let go to run past and down the hall, needing to find his lover. 

Ayumu sighed and shook off the excess water that had been transferred to him in the embrace. "Seems to be all in a day's work for Narumi Ayumu." Shaking his head, he decided that it was time for him to leave. 

Rio watched him go, thinking that if this kept up, she'd have to nominate Little Narumi for either sainthood or superherodom. 


	15. Chapter 15

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 15/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Kousuke offers Eyes the security he needs after the encounter with Kanone.

ooooo

Kousuke ran down the hall, tracking Eyes down through his empathy and wishing for the first time that the top floor wasn't so goddamn big. There were just too many rooms where the pianist could have holed up, and Kousuke could feel his emotional state getting worse, not better. He hadn't managed to calm down, which was unusual for Eyes, and the reality of that was just frightening Eyes more. The fact that he was even in such a state told Kousuke just how very near a miss this had been, and if he ever found out what had sent him under while Kanone was left to roam unchecked, the redhead was going to bust some heads. 

He found the Englishman on his knees in his own bedroom, hugging his arms and shaking as if the room were in the arctic. He didn't seem to notice Kousuke's presence, too wrapped up in trying to calm himself down and failing. He knew that this wasn't normal, and was afraid that Kanone had done something to him that he couldn't undo. The feeling of helplessness and betrayal to himself made him want to steal back control or scream until his throat hurt. Yet still he tried so diligently to handle himself as he always did, wondering what he would do if that didn't' work soon. 

Kousuke's first instinct was to run to Eyes and pull him into his arms, but he held himself back. If he did something like that without giving Eyes warning, the most likely thing to happen would be that Eyes would panic and attack without thinking. It seemed like a safer bet to make himself known first, so he called Eyes's name. If that didn't work...well, he'd throw his wet jacket at him or something. He had no real problem with Eyes shredding the jacket. 

The sound of his name above the roar of his heartbeat in his ears made Eyes jump, looking quite startled. The second that it took for recognition to kick in allowed Kousuke to see the fear that it might have been Kanone again. The musician sucked in a harsh breath. "Kousuke..." he replied, his voice thick with tension. 

Kousuke tried to reach out with his empathy to calm the other boy, but Eyes's emotions were a morass, and he had no idea where to really start. He went with the basics, which was to smile. "Yup, it's me. In the rather damp flesh." 

Eyes got to his feet, a little unsteady. He approached Kousuke carefully, not so much as if he wasn't sure what the redhead would do, but more that he wasn't sure what he himself would do. He glanced up and down once to make sure he was seeing the real thing, then reached out to him, taking hold in spite of how cool and wet he still was. "I was worried..." That wasn't something he usually admitted outright, indicating quite easily that he was not in his mental element in the slightest. 

Kousuke slowly closed his arms around Eyes, holding him as tight as he dared and stroking at the silver hair. "I'm okay. You don't have to worry anymore." _It's my turn to do that,_ he thought to himself, forgetting that Eyes was able to hear his thoughts now, if the events a few hours earlier had been any indication. 

The thought came unbidden in response to Kousuke's own mental words. _I don't deserve your worry..._ He couldn't help thinking that he'd brought this entire situation on himself, and now that it was here, he didn't know how to stop it. "I don't know...what's wrong with me..." Well, he did know some of what was wrong with him, and it was probably fuming the next level down from them as they spoke. 

Kousuke switched entirely to mind speech, not wanting to risk even the slightest chance that Kanone might hear them. _It's not your fault. You deserve my concern because I love you and it is my kami-given right to be concerned. I'll help you through this in any way I can. Just tell me what you need._ He placed a gentle kiss to the top of Eyes's head, now thinking only of the other Blade Child's comfort. 

_I...I'm not sure... I can't put out the fire. It's burning... _There was no other way he could describe the 'damage' that Kanone's advances had left behind. He clung tightly, wishing that kiss had been placed against his lips, to make him forget the way that other kiss had tasted. He couldn't contest the love; he couldn't contest Kousuke's reasons like he had before. He didn't really know what to do. 

Kousuke understood, the rampant desire running through Eyes burning like a beacon to Kousuke's empathic senses. He lifted one calloused hand to touch Eyes's face, tilting those tormented sapphires up to look at him. At the same time, he kicked the door shut, nodding to himself in satisfaction as he heard the lock click. It figured that Eyes would have a door that automatically locked from the inside. _Then just do what you need to do, whatever that turns out to be. I'll still be here._

_I don't want to hurt you..._ Eyes was afraid that if he lost control, he wouldn't know what to do or how to rein it back in again. Therefore, losing it was a frightening thing indeed. He was already pressing kisses to Kousuke's throat, nibbling at his ear. He had never been this frenzied in his life, not even at the best of Kanone's work on him. 

Kousuke shivered at the touches, but kept his mind stubbornly on Eyes's concerns. He couldn't just say that Eyes couldn't hurt him no matter what, because not only was that ridiculously corny, it was untrue. Eyes was a fully trained Blade Child, and knew ways to bind, wound, and even kill with his bare hands. If Eyes suddenly panicked or got too rough, injury was a real concern. So he went with a far more realistic answer. _I can and will protect myself, Eyes. Trust me, I like my skin, and I'd rather keep it whole. If you start to lose it, I'll stop you. Even if it means clocking you with your alarm.  
_

_Good... you're still being honest with me. I need that... _One hand combed through Kousuke's hair, curling his fingers in the soft, spiky strands. He used that grip to firmly, but gently, pull Kousuke down into a real kiss. It was like the one that Kanone had given him, except that he knew to leave enough room for Kousuke to escape if he really wanted to. 

Kousuke had no interest in escape. Instead, he leaned forward, into the kiss, but still letting Eyes have the control, sensing that he needed that more than anything else. 

_You must be cold in that... _Eyes's free hand was tugging at the wet shirt that was clinging to Kousuke's body. _It should come off, yes?_ He slipped his tongue into Kousuke's mouth, kissing him deeply and perfectly content to steal his breath away. 

Kousuke moaned softly into the kiss, letting Eyes explore and do whatever he wanted. _Well, I could, but that would mean you'd have to let go. It's either that or just tear the thing off.  
_

_Don't tempt me..._ He waited for several long moments before he broke the kiss, licking first Kousuke's swollen lips, then his own. Freeing his hand from Kousuke's hair, he began to tug the shirt over his head, running hot hands down the bared chest once the garment was dropped to the floor. 

The redhead gave a soft gasp and shivered at the hot touch, leaning into the skilled hands. Had Eyes's hands always been that warm, or was it just that he was chilled? Either way, it felt remarkably good. 

Eyes went after Kousuke's neck again, nibbling a heated trail down the slender column, pausing over his heartbeat to suckle gently. He didn't quite think he could mark Kousuke the way he'd been marked such a short time ago, but he could leave something behind. His hands, meanwhile, heated though they were, sought out places on the redhead's upper body that made him react more than just the normal touches. 

He found one fairly quickly, as he passed over Kousuke's collarbones. The redhead's breath caught in his throat when they were touched, and his shivers became a little more pronounced. Added with what Eyes was doing to his neck, and Kousuke was beginning to think he'd have to sit down soon, or risk losing all of his dignity when his knees gave out. 

Eyes seemed to sense such distress, only letting go with his lips after they'd left a rosy little mark on Kousuke's neck. He filed away the knowledge of the collarbones for later and pulled back, taking his lover's hand. _Come with me... let me welcome you into my world this time...  
_

Kousuke smiled, lifting Eyes's hand to his lips, though his green-gold eyes stayed on Eyes's blue ones. _I'll always follow you.  
_

_I wouldn't hold you to that, not with the lives we're living, but it means enough to me that you'll follow me here and now. _He sat down on the edge of his bed that Rio wished she could steal from him, pulling Kousuke forward and unfastening the jeans he was wearing. After all, he didn't think Kousuke was comfortable in them, soaked as he was. 

_Aw, you know me. I'd manage to follow you, even if everyone said it was impossible, just because it would prove everyone wrong._ He sat gingerly on the edge of the mattress, not wanting to get the sheets wet, and watched with quiet fascination as the musician's hands worked with the fastening of his pants, which had gotten a little stubborn because of the wet. Eyes's hands secretly fascinated Kousuke, with the strength and dexterity hidden behind such a fragile-looking build. 

At this point, Eyes wouldn't deny his hands were powerful. Kousuke had been right on in recalling just how much damage he could do, and that was before he had a weapon. This time, he used them to a less violent means, undoing the denim and tugging them off Kousuke's hips, down his legs. His eyes followed the trail of bared skin along the way, almost seeming to have heat in his gaze alone. 

Once fully undressed, Kousuke sighed happily and stretched, very catlike even when not in nekojin form. That and he personally admitted to himself that he was showing off. Sure, he still didn't look all that much better than when he'd first come home, but at least the bruises were healing, and Eyes really didn't seem to care about that, anyway. Now if only he could gain back enough weight to not look starved, he'd be satisfied with himself, too. 

Eyes gently pulled him so that he was lying on the bed completely, the feel of silks and velvets against his skin. Eyes often secretly slept in the nude just to enjoy how much money and effort he'd put into such a lavish bed. Kousuke should be able to enjoy it as well. When the other Blade Child was settled, he resumed the kisses, only this time, he had a much larger playing ground of still-dampened skin to roam. 

Kousuke settled into the rich fabrics, purring at the feel of them against his skin. He watched Eyes explore with half-lidded eyes, arching just a little bit into each brush of the lips, wiry muscles tensing and relaxing under the pale skin. 

Eyes paused long enough to tease the other boy's collarbones, nibbling along their length before dipping into the centre, one hand caressing the top of Kousuke's thigh while the other held him up over the other's body. 

Kousuke moaned, head tipping back, and his back arching a little off the bed. His hands fisted in the satin sheets, the redhead trying to resist the need to touch the other boy. But Eyes wanted and needed full control, and he would only reach for the pianist if given permission. 

_You don't need it._ Eyes could feel the hesitation, the need to touch something, hold onto him. _Don't hold back. _He captured Kousuke's lips in another heated kiss before sitting up on his knees to undress himself. The movement of his hands was an invitation for Kousuke to help if he wished. 

Kousuke smiled and sat up, reaching to help. He moved so close that they were almost touching, and could feel the heat from each other's skin. As he started to work on the fastenings of Eyes's vest--how many of those things did he have, anyway?--he caught Eyes in a deep kiss of his own, not rough or fast, but gentle and loving, Kousuke trying to pour his affection into that single gesture. 

It was a movement that managed to make the fear that had been on the surface still and slip to the background. Reassured that it was truly Kousuke and Kousuke alone here with him now, he could relax enough to enjoy such a gentle kiss and not still go crazy with all the desire that burned within him. 

And Kousuke continued to drive home that it was him there and not Kanone, simply with his touch. Once he'd gotten the vest undone and pushed off Eyes's shoulders, it was his calloused hands that wandered over Eyes's chest and shoulders, slightly clumsy and hesitant from inexperience, as opposed to Kanone's smooth and expert touch. 

Eyes didn't even want to bother with comparison. He knew whose hands they were, why he allowed them to touch him so freely. He arched back and let the touching continue, drinking in each pleasurable sensation down his spine, the way his skin warmed and tingled. What he wanted to do to Kousuke he couldn't say in words. 

_So say it in thought and emotion,_ Kousuke whispered in his mind, the voice feeling like the brush of cats' fur. Kousuke nuzzled at Eyes's neck, wishing he had fangs in human form, but not willing to deal with the pain that came from shifting forms. Besides, the marking was something that could be considered domination, and this was Eyes's night, not his. 

After a moment's hesitation at such a barrier coming down, Eyes let Kousuke feel what he wanted. For the first time, he wanted to be the one in control, as something he'd never experienced. He needed to take Kousuke the way the redhead had taken him not more than a couple nights ago. The thought of claiming Kousuke, being with him in that way made him flush and he wondered if Kousuke would protest being on the bottom. He was always so headstrong... 

Kousuke chuckled, nipping slightly at the musician's throat. The images ignited a great deal of primal feelings, especially lust and desire. They heated up his chilled body faster than anything else would have, and instead of trying to explain such basic and primal emotions with clumsy words, he wrapped those burning feelings around Eyes with his empathy, letting him feel just how much he craved to have Eyes inside him, how much he wanted to belong to Eyes as much as Eyes belonged to him. 

Pale skin flushed in a matter of heartbeats, Kousuke's sensual heat cloaking him like a sheath, holding him prisoner to their own desires. But it was one form of captivity that Eyes refused to fight. His own hands were shaking again as he fought with the fastenings to his pants, needing to be free of whatever stood between them _now_. 

Kousuke wasn't helping much, sending heated images of him writhing beneath Eyes, screaming his name as the musician pounded into him. There was an amused tint to the feelings and images, a sign that the redhead knew he was being evil, and enjoying Eyes's reactions to it immensely. 

_You're almost making it _hurt_ not to be taking you right now...!_ Eyes warned mentally, the almost feral smirk on his face showing that there was no real pain, but the ache within him came close in the best way he'd ever known. He reached out with one pale hand to push Kousuke back to the pillows once more, rolling back to kick his leather pants off in one fluid motion. Seconds later, he was between the redhead's sprawled thighs, mouth engulfing the very apparent erection. 

"Aaaah!" Kousuke bucked his hips, unable to stop it, and not even sure he wanted to. The feel of that mouth was almost enough to bring him to the edge just as it was, and he arched as much as he could, gasping for air and letting it out in little mewls of pleasure. 

Those strong fingers curled around the base of Kousuke's length, holding it tight as Eyes nursed the hardened shaft he'd kidnapped with a skilled tongue and lips. He took Kousuke as far as he thought the other boy could handle before he stopped, pulling back with deliberate slowness, his blue eyes fixed on Kousuke's expression, the _need_ in his gaze. 

Kousuke gazed back, eyes molten and practically glowing with his own desperate need, his gaze pleading with Eyes to either finish him or continue or whatever else came to the silver-haired boy's mind, just so long as he didn't _stop!_ He whispered Eyes's name, his voice shaky and tight with the sexual tension. 

A gentle finger, in contrast to that which had held him back a second ago, pressed to Kousuke's lips. _It cannot be over that quickly... _He crawled across the bed to get to his nightstand, taking it a little slowly so that Kousuke could calm down just a little. He didn't want it over just when he'd sheathed himself into the redhead's body. There had to be more for Kousuke to look forward to. Discovering some of the lotion he used regularly, he smiled and pulled it free, knowing it would be safe enough for lubricant, a soft cherry blossom scent prickling the air when he opened it. 

Kousuke moved to prop himself up on his elbows, watching Eyes and trying to calm himself down. Though admittedly, part of that tension was starting to turn to anxiety. This was only the second time he'd ever been intimate with anyone, and the first time receiving. He wasn't entirely sure what he should be doing, and that was what made him nervous more than the possibility of pain. Pain he could deal with, but making a mistake and disappointing Eyes was more than enough to put him on edge in a negative way.

_You're worrying. Isn't that my job? _Eyes reappeared beside him, moistening his hands with the sweet-scented lotion. _R__emember how worried I was when you first took me, and the things that you said in response. The same applies to you. _He bowed his head to give the other a gentler, reassuring kiss. His fingertips danced over Kousuke's erection, reminding him again of how good it felt to be with each other. 

Kousuke shivered a little at the light touches, leaning into the kiss. _I...guess so...  
_

_No guessing... Just tell me if I'm the one doing something wrong. I know it's not painless, but I never want to harm you either..._ That said, he dropped his touch just beneath the scrotum, teasing lightly at the tight circle of his entrance, rubbing a bit. 

Kousuke shivered at the light touch, finding it more enjoyable than he'd expected it to be. He spread his legs wider to give Eyes more room. There was a large part of him that was rather of the opinion of, even if Eyes did hurt him, not saying anything and just giving the other boy what he needed. And the moment that crossed his mind, he shoved it down and really hoped that he hadn't thought that 'out loud', so to speak. 

Eyes gave him a bit of a look, but it was toned down by the moment. With that expression, they both knew that they wouldn't be able to hide the pain, or anything else they shared at that moment, from each other. He tested that theory by gently pressing a finger within, testing his grounds. 

Kousuke hissed a little bit at the sting of first penetration, but it wasn't anything unbearable, and he forced himself to relax, knowing it would be easier if he did. He didn't want this to stop...even if Eyes _did_ swat him for having a brief moment of self-sacrificing stupidity. 

The pianist let it go for now, concentrating only on trying to prepare Kousuke so that he wouldn't experience too much discomfort when he actually joined with him. He ducked his head to tease the tip of his length, careful not to do too much so that he wouldn't bring him back to fever pitch so soon again. The least he could do, however, was distract him from the preparation. 

Kousuke gasped and shuddered, the conflicting sensations both excruciating and enticing at the same time. He murmured Eyes's name again, reaching out with one hand to run his fingers through what he could reach of the musician's hair. 

Eyes didn't pull back until Kousuke was prepared to his satisfaction, gently withdrawing his mouth and fingers. He leaned back so that Kousuke could see him, his face flushed as it had been the other night, reddened with pleasure. The other lotion-slick hand went to his own erection, stroking up and down and causing a very delicious moan to leave his lips. 

Kousuke watched, his heated gaze seeming to have its own weight on the musician's skin. _You are so incredible...  
_

_From your perception. _He worked himself until he felt a little more of the fever pitch he'd given Kousuke, and then lowered his hand with a bit of reluctance. He moved to hover over the redhead's prone body, leaning down to give him another deep kiss as the tip of his length gently probed for entrance within Kousuke. He didn't push when he felt the desire welling up, wanting it to be Kousuke's eventual choice. 

Kousuke reached up and wrapped his arms around the slender form above him, pulling him close, participating eagerly in the kiss. _Now,_ he whispered into Eyes's mind like a plea, _Please, take me now! _Even with the cool down period, Kousuke's hunger to be one with Eyes was almost overwhelming in its intensity. 

To hear Kousuke beg like that...it was as if those few words had re-ignited all the flames he'd been trying to calm or control. Before he knew it, he was pushing into that tight heat, letting out a soft cry despite his best efforts at silence. Right now, he didn't care if they were heard, he knew they were safe for the moment, and that was all that mattered. He wanted Kousuke, and he was the only thing that existed in this world. 

Kousuke whimpered, for a moment consumed by the pain from the first few seconds of being claimed. But he knew it would get better, so he clung to Eyes and waited it out, using the presence of the musician, the heat of his skin, the scent of his hair, the sound of his voice, as support. 

_I've got you...it's going to be all right. The pain doesn't last... _Eyes was very reassuring, knowing just what he had thought the first time, wanting to calm those pains and those fears. He lowered himself to share the heat better, wrapping his arms around the other boy and holding on as he adjusted to being filled. 

Kousuke shuddered suddenly as Eyes's hands brushed against his lower back, pleasure rippling between their shared senses like hot water. It seemed the nekojin actually shared a sensitive area with him. 

That comforted him on some level, and he gently stroked it as he rocked his hips. He wasn't quite thrusting yet, but more giving Kousuke a chance to get used to such a movement. He didn't want it to hurt when he couldn't control himself anymore. He showered the other Blade Child's face with kisses, nibbling at his neck or ears every now and then. 

Kousuke murmured something incomprehensible, but his voice dripped with soft pleasure as he shifted languidly against his lover, the pain slowly fading in the wake of such tender care. 

That was what Eyes had wanted more than anything. When he could barely sense discomfort anymore, he began to move for real, his thoughts asking permission before he went too fast. 

Kousuke's eyes had slid shut some time during the gentle pleasuring, and now they opened again, soft and trusting, green-gold cat eyes that glowed from within with want, like twin harvest moons. Permission was given almost before it was requested. 

Eyes gave Kousuke another of those rare smiles and his body started moving gracefully in long deep thrusts that were suited to his more elegant nature. There was enough control to be had in the taking, there was no need to rush anything else, and especially not when the glide of Kousuke's heated body against his arousal felt _this_ good. 

Kousuke moved with him, moaning softly with each thrust. He held tight to Eyes, those rough hands running over his back, wanting the other boy as close as possible. The nekojin instincts in him wished that Eyes could mark him as he had been marked, but without fangs, that was probably impossible. But still, just the fantasy of Eyes biting into his throat, the fire of that feeling of gentle ownership running through his veins, was enough to make the Blade Child moan. 

_If only I could..._ Eyes felt the echo of want for such a mark, but he settled for latching onto the bruise he'd already made on Kousuke's throat and nibbled just slightly harder at it to darken it. As he moved, Kousuke could hear the soft groans and whimpers that came from each thrust while he was latched to the redhead's throat. _Mine...  
_

Kousuke mewled, tilting his head back not just to give Eyes more room, but in an instinctive sign of submission. He tightened around the musician's length as much as he could, wanting to give Eyes as much pleasure as possible. _Yours...  
_

Eyes let out a louder cry that spoke Kousuke's name at the end of the pleasured sound. They were almost there; he could feel it within himself and in an echo from his lover. He shifted his angle a little, searching... 

Kousuke suddenly screamed as Eyes struck something that exploded into waves of ice and fire through his body, leaving him gasping and desperate for more of that incredible feeling. _Again...! Onegai, Eyes, more...!  
_

Eyes cried out as well, feeling Kousuke's body tighten in response. He thrust harder, making sure to strike that spot over and over, feeling something building not only in his body, but somewhere on a higher level. An electric heat crept from the base of his skull down his spine, spreading out over his body. 

Kousuke writhed desperately beneath Eyes, the pleasure too much for him to keep still. His hands slid lower down the musician's back, nails digging into that area at the base of his spine. 

Screaming, Eyes reached his limits, that wall of illusions finally crumbling to nothing and leaving the Blade Child fully bared in mind, body and expression. A little more... he wanted Kousuke to come first, he could hold out... "K-Kousuke...!" 

With a final cry, Kousuke fell over the edge, his vision going white as he came hard. His entire body spasmed, tightening almost unbearably around his lover. 

Eyes threw his head back, another loud cry of pleasure leaving him as he met Kousuke's climax with one of his own. A ripple of energy tore through the room, through Eyes's body, pulsing with heat against Kousuke as he gasped for breath. Another sharp sound left the musician as it hit him full force, instinct taking over in its wake. Eyes dropped his head and bit into the side of Kousuke's throat, his previous mark giving way to the perfect place for the sweetest taste. Instead of pain, small, sleek fangs broke the skin in an instant, Eyes moaning as he fed from the open wound, something soft and warm brushing like fur against Kousuke's thighs. 

Kousuke moaned deep in his chest, tilting his head as far back as he could, panting with the pleasurable sensations of the bite. He felt dizzy, his eyes still glazed and unfocused from orgasm, so he just clung to his lover to ride out the waves. 

Even at the end of his frenzy, Eyes was mindful of hurting Kousuke, and he took very little, managing to tear himself away with a startled gasp. When the back of his hand drew across his mouth, he was startled to find a streak of crimson. He'd thought for a moment that he might have imagined biting Kousuke, but it was reality now. _A-are you all right?!  
_

Kousuke gave a smile that was bordering on drunken. _Haaaai...why'd you stop? Do I taste bad?  
_

"K-Kousuke!" _I'm not supposed to be able to bite you!  
_

Kousuke gave one of those very feline blinks. In fact, he rather resembled a cat on a catnip high... _I know. But I figure if I can hallucinate the fuzzy silver ears, why not the biting?  
_

"What...?" Eyes reached up, and sure enough, he touched soft furry ears where only hair should have been. The caress was pleasant, and he shivered. 

Kousuke seemed to get a little more lucid, though not much. It was enough so that he could raise a hand to those ears himself without smacking either of them, anyway. But he remembered how nice it felt when Eyes scratched his ears, and he felt that he should return the favor. So he buried his fingers into the soft hair and fur, rubbing at the base of each ear, purring a little at the feel of such softness against his roughened hands.

Eyes didn't know what was going on, and it made him nervous, but that was quickly forgotten as Kousuke began doing something that felt rather much like heaven. He flopped onto the redhead lightly, his chest rumbling in an almost growling purr. _Dare I ask...what...happened...?  
_

Kousuke thought about this while still absently stroking the silver ears. It took a little longer than usual, since he was still filtering most of his thought process through the afterglow, but he finally spoke. _Well, assuming that the Hunter was right and all Blade Children actually have nonhuman mothers, I'd say you just grew up. But as to why you've suddenly changed _now,_ I'm probably not the best person to ask. My own transformation was forced, after all._ He nuzzled at Eyes's face like an affectionate kitten. _I'm not complaining, though. The feel of you marking me was niiiiice...  
_

Eyes chuckled softly, swishing his tail a little against Kousuke's legs. He blinked and glanced back, moving it again. _That is going to take some getting used to..._ He nuzzled the redhead's face. _I don't know how it happened, but I'm not sure I mind it. I just have to figure out how to get it to go away before I leave the room.  
_

It wasn't just the physical changes that Eyes would have to get used to. His senses were also much sharper now. He could hear the sound of Kousuke's heartbeat, a little fast from their recent exertion, but slowly calming, and mixed with it was the deep rumble of the redhead's purring, the subsonics of which stayed in his voice even when he wasn't actively making the sound. It wasn't audible to human ears, but his fox ears picked it up clearly. Eyes's sense of smell picked up many scents, from the salty tang of sweat, to the coppery smell of Kousuke's blood, and even the redhead's own scent, a mix of something warmly herbal and a slight tint of lavender. And, just barely noticeable on his hands, the sweet but slightly burning scent of the oil Kousuke had used on him during their first time. 

_This...is incredible..._ Eyes took a slow, deep breath, not only allowing his sense of smell to pick up everything it could, but giving himself a chance to digest all the new information. Each new thing was catalogued, and he was sure that Kousuke's scent would remain branded on his memory so that he'd be able to find his lover without the traditional methods of sight and sound, two things that humans took very much for granted. He wanted to stay in this moment for longer than they could, learning and existing, holding onto the soft glow of their recent coupling and remaining so closely fit. 

Kousuke nodded his agreement, his hand trailing down Eyes's back to pet at the silvery fox tail. He couldn't see it very well from this angle, but he had no doubt that it would look just as natural on Eyes as his own tail and ears supposedly looked on him. 

The furry thing seemed alive under his hand, twitching and swishing back and forth. Another rumbling purr went through Eyes's chest and he let out a soft sigh. _All things considered, I'm content with this night.  
_

_Me too,_ Kousuke replied softly, pressing little kisses to the musician's face and neck, _but it's going to be really hard to move from this bed and go back to my room. My bed's soaked, thanks to She-Whom-Shall-Soon-Be-Dead. Maybe I can sleep on the couch in the music room. Wait, that doesn't have a lock, and if Kanone's wandering around pissed, I'd rather have a stout lock. Maybe the roof...  
_

_I want you to stay..._ It was unspoken, but Eyes didn't want to wake up alone. He knew that it was dangerous to spend that much time in close quarters with Kanone still here. Hopefully, he'd gotten what he wanted, and he would go home soon. Eyes would find a way to casually bring it up the next conversation with the man. 

Kousuke met those incredible sapphire eyes, his own emerald-gold ones worried. _You sure? It's a risk..._ Though admittedly, Kousuke wanted to stay too. He didn't want to leave Eyes alone while Kanone was nearby. That had already happened once, because he'd somehow passed out. He didn't want to let it happen again. 

_To say that I don't care anymore would be a lie, but I want you here with me. _He almost added 'just in case', but there was enough concern left that Kousuke would pick that up on his own. _I have to be up early anyway, I'll make sure we're not discovered.  
_

_Then I'll stay._ Kousuke murmured, absently taking hold of one of Eyes's hands, inspecting the sharp claws that now adorned it. Somehow, the sharp little points just made the fingers look more elegant, just as he'd expected. Kousuke had a suspicion that they could have dressed Eyes in a grass skirt and a horrible floral print shirt, and he'd still look like a king. He chuckled to himself at the mental image, absently massaging the hand he held. 

Eyes winced at the mental image. _Some king I would be in that getup, Kousuke._ It made him laugh though, and he shook his head, settling on top of him. 

_You'd manage. And then all your fangirls would start emulating it, and then all the American and English cosplayers would start, and by the end of the month there'd be a whole fashion revolution based on your grass skirt._ Kousuke continued working on the hand he held, rubbing the tension out of each joint with his own clever fingers. 

Eyes almost moaned in contentment, loving when his hands received attention. He was so accustomed to using them frequently that any kind of pampering was well-appreciated. _I don't want to think about such a revolution...   
_

The redhead snickered as he moved to Eyes's palms and wrist. _Aw, you don't want your very own army of grass skirted minions? I bet you'd even get some people in the Harajuku district trying to goth it up. Spiky skirts made out of those really nasty grasses, maybe. Painted black, of course.  
_

_Of course. I do like black, you know. It would seem more fitting to start a trend for the Harajuku district..._ He smiled and shook his head. _But I'm not about to start any trends right now. World domination can wait until after this year's tours.  
_

_You mean your tours _aren't_ a means towards world domination? And I personally think you like black a little _too_ much. The only time I've seen you not wearing black was during that last concert, and then, you were wearing white. You should really try wearing some other colors._ Kousuke didn't really want to to think about Eyes touring. It was always a rather mixed blessing when Eyes traveled. On one hand, Eyes was away from the mess in Japan for a while and could just focus on his music. But on the other, Kousuke missed him when he wasn't there, especially since until now, the only one who was there for company was Rio. Kousuke didn't like feeling lonely. 

_I've never liked colors... Even when I was younger, I preferred black. _He tilted his head thoughtfully. _It isn't that colors are bad, it's just that I never had a preference for them.  
_

Kousuke gave a frustrated huff, grabbing Eyes's other hand to start on that. _Maybe, but _I_ think you'd look incredible in colors. Like you did in my sleep shirt. I'd love to see you in a dark red or purple.  
_

_I might consider trying it more, if you like. Just...let me stay in my element for the time being, and then I promise to try more.  
_

Kousuke purred and rubbed his cheek against the back of Eyes's soft hand. _Thanks. Though you know, if I ever start to get really annoying, you do have every right to just tell me to shove it.  
_

_I've gotten used to the way you behave. If I couldn't handle it, I wouldn't be as close to you as I am now. Don't worry about it.  
_

_Okay then,_ Kousuke murmured, finally finishing with Eyes's hands and just embracing the other boy, holding him close and enjoying the warmth. 

Eyes still couldn't say it, even though he wanted to. And it had nothing to do with not being able to return Kousuke's feelings; it was more that he was afraid of what would happen if he did. There were too many variables now, and keeping them safe was his utmost priority. He had to think of everyone involved and not just himself or how good it would feel to just let go. 

Common sense pointed out that Kousuke had already made it clear that he wasn't expecting a return of his feelings, and was happy enough just with what Eyes gave him. If anything, he'd probably been expecting total rejection when he first confessed. 

With that thought in mind, Eyes held him a little closer, his own quiet way of reassuring him that there was no rejection to be found here. In fact, he'd wondered if Kousuke would end up rejecting _him _because of Kanone. 

Kousuke noticed that he couldn't hear Eyes's thoughts directly anymore. The musician, always a quick study, was probably already figuring out how to shield his thoughts. But then, Eyes had always been good at walls. All he felt now was the emotional things, security, concern, and a strange tint of guilt and fear. "What's the matter, Eyes?" he whispered, noticing that speech suddenly felt odd, more distant and cumbersome. Speaking mind-to-mind had seemed a lot more comfortable. 

Eyes lay his head on Kousuke's chest, nuzzling under the other's chin. "I thought... perhaps you might regret being with me. If nothing else, tonight proved to me that the ties that bind are tighter than I thought they were. It's not fair to you." He didn't want to lose Kousuke, not when he had someone he could be this close to and not have to worry about being manipulated. 

Kousuke shook his head and flicked at the tip of one silver ear. "Baka," he murmured affectionately, "I don't regret anything. I came to you knowing the risks, and it would be unfair to you to dump everything just because of one person. I love you, and you care. That's enough for me." 

Eyes didn't argue this time, though inwardly he wished that he could be considered as doing more than just caring. But he would do that when he felt it was safe enough to. For now, having the security that being close to Kousuke provided, he could live through this mess for awhile. "Thank you." 

"No prob." Kousuke reached down, pulling the blankets up to cover them. _Hm...you know, the _quilt_ isn't too big to steal...nah. Something tells me Eyes wouldn't really stand for that.  
_

"Do it, and I'll hunt you down..." the musician murmured sleepily. 

Kousuke sighed. "Something tells me hiding things from you is going to become a lot harder. I'd better invest some time in learning about mental shields." 

"You may want to. Both for our own safety and ... perhaps a little bit of privacy." Not that there was much that he wanted to hide, but it was always better to be cautious. 

Kousuke nodded. He had his own little secrets, things that were just too personal for him to feel comfortable with showing anyone, even Eyes. Besides, people would start to wonder if they started finishing each other's sentences and all that. 

Eyes would have commented on that, but he was already drifting off to sleep, curled up against Kousuke contentedly. 

Kousuke just lay there watching him, stroking those soft silver ears. He wasn't sleepy yet, so he just stayed awake, just in case Kanone got it into his head to try visiting again. He would protect Eyes now, even if he wasn't able to do it all the time. He just hoped it was enough.

ooooo

Kanone finished his packing, looking around to make sure that he had everything. He'd gotten the information he needed, and had a plan, so it was time to leave. There was so much to do, and while it pained him that he couldn't do something about Asazuki before he left, he consoled himself with the business for today. He would have to call Cassie and tell her to have some of their more skilled helpers waiting when he got back. 

A quiet knock came to his door. Eyes stood outside, and even though he would have liked to ignore Kanone's presence after the previous night, he thought it best to try and make like nothing had happened. Taking a deep breath, he waited instead of walking in, bracing himself for a not-quite-pleasant experience. There was no telling what kind of mood Kanone would be in, especially since he knew the other had been practically enraged at Ayumu's interruption. 

"Come in, Eyes." Kanone called, not sounding particularly bad-tempered. 

But he knew that didn't necessarily mean anything. He turned the knob and stepped inside, immediately fixing his gaze on the brunette. "Hello, Kanone." 

Kanone nodded a greeting with a small smile, closing his suitcase. "Good morning, Eyes. You're just in time to see me off." 

The silver-haired boy tilted his head. "Are you leaving so soon?" 

Kanone nodded, looking regretful. "I have responsibilities of my own back in England, sadly. And I have the information I came for, so I fear that there is no excuse for me to stay longer. And with your concert being tomorrow, you will be rather busy yourself." 

The old sentimentalities were on Eyes's lips like a familiar habit. He almost got close enough to stroke one smooth cheek, almost told him how he hated the thought of them being separated. Now, it took all of his will to force himself not to move, too at odds with himself at the moment to try and pretend everything was all right. "It's a shame you can't stay at least for the concert," he managed to say, knowing that Kanone had always seemed to like hearing him play. 

Kanone chuckled, reaching out to pat Eyes's cheek. "That is why I have a television. I would never miss one of your concerts." 

It was only after he'd unconsciously nuzzled Kanone's palm for a second that he cursed himself for letting the other's charm win over. Old habits were indeed hard to break. "Do you need me to take you to the airport?" 

Kanone shook his head. "I have a few errands to run in the city before I leave. Mostly picking up souvenirs for a few friends of mine. But it might take a while, and be horribly boring. So I've called a cab." Kanone smiled at the nuzzling, knowing that his hold was still strong, even if he'd been constantly interrupted during this stay. 

"When will I see you again?" His mind opened up just a little, testing the range of his telepathy, the talent still very new to him. Normal behavior would have dictated that Kanone wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to ride with Eyes to the airport, and it didn't seem normal for him to take a cab either. He wondered if there was something more going on... 

And he ran into well-practiced mental walls, strong and thick. Kanone already had shields against telepathy, but he felt it when Eyes tried to read him. So he'd Awakened last night... 

Eyes made no outward expression of success or failure, tilting his head curiously as he waited for an answer. It was disappointing that even with his own maturity, he couldn't get an edge on Kanone. It would have been nice to have _something_... 

"Probably not for a while. I'm usually kept quite busy at home. Do you want me to call when I arrive in London?" 

Eyes nodded his head. Anything he could do to get what information he could. "Please..." 

Kanone nodded. "Very well. In return, once you've gone through the Hunter's files, please send a summary to me, would you? It's best to know what the Hunters are doing or have done." 

"I will make sure to look all the data over when I am finished with the concert here. I have a bit of a rest period to dedicate the time to it." Eyes stepped back, his eyes moving once up and down Kanone's frame. This time, like many others, he wondered where the sweet little boy of his childhood had disappeared to. Perhaps it was the strain of Fate, Eyes couldn't tell, but he would continue to question what had happened to make the Kanone he once knew the man he was becoming today. 

Kanone noticed the look and raised an amused eyebrow. "What are you staring for? Do I have something on my face?" 

Eyes blinked and then shook his head. "No, Kanone...I was just thinking. I'm sorry." 

Kanone shrugged. "Nothing wrong with thinking. It shows you exist." He picked up the suitcase and approached Eyes, leaning up and stealing a kiss before Eyes could stop him. 

Eyes made a startled sound, again thinking that he should have expected such a move. He didn't pull back, but like before, he didn't press forward. There wasn't as much control in that movement as Kanone usually put into his advances. 

Kanone pulled back, his eyes calculating. "Mm...are you wearing a new cologne, Eyes? It suits you. A very light sweet musk...almost like a fox." Kanone knew what Eyes was, of course. He'd made a point of knowing which bloodline had been used to birth the musician. 

Eyes was proud of himself for his lack of reaction, a part of him knowing that if his friend had known to shield so well, he would likely have a clue as to what he was. Kanone was known for doing his homework. "I find it goes quite well with the subtle scent of cat." He had a feeling that Kanone had also known all along about Kousuke and what he was, or else there wouldn't have been so many attempts at getting Eyes alone. And the pianist wasn't so sure he believed the story about Kousuke collapsing when Kanone had come to talk to him. 

Kanone tilted his head, as if considering the statement. "I fear I can't agree with that sentiment. Cats and foxes are natural enemies in the wild. Such a dalliance would be tempestuous at best." He suddenly shrugged. "But I suppose it would just be a matter of time and circumstance. Combinations with so much against it don't tend to last long." 

"Even you know that there are exceptions to every rule, Kanone. Especially when circumstances are a little on the rare side. We shall see how it fares." He gave the smallest smile and bowed his head. "Do take care, Kanone. I only see the situation getting even more extreme for the Blade Children. With us so far apart, it would be difficult for me to be at your side." 

Kanone nodded. "Extreme does seem to be rather the norm for us, doesn't it. But just one thing..." He gave Eyes a look that seemed to stare right through him, and then threw out a comment that he knew would have Eyes doubting certain things. "I have no doubts in rare pairs for the trueness of a cat's passionate heart. My doubts rather concern the fox, which is a canny beast that prefers to simply use things that are...convenient." After all, Kanone knew from what he'd read of Kousuke's soul that the Empath already loved, but Eyes did not. And knowing Eyes, the musician probably already worried that he might just be emulating Kanone's manipulations. 

The corners of Eyes's mouth twitched downward, and he turned away from Kanone. "I have preparations of my own to attend to." He suddenly felt cold, angry at himself, and it stirred the power of the vulpine spirit beneath the human shell. His skin was as cool as marble, his movements casually deliberate. "Have a safe flight home, Kanone." 

Kanone hid his smile, knowing he'd won this particular little duel of words. "I will. And I wish you a good time at your concert." And with that, Kanone headed out the door of the room, off to do his errands and head back to England. 

Eyes picked up the keys from the countertop that Kanone had left behind, pocketing them and going to the door. He looked back into the apartment, feeling like there was still a bit of Kanone there. He had a feeling he wouldn't be visiting this floor for awhile. Sighing quietly, he headed back upstairs to find Kousuke. 

He found the redhead in the kitchen upstairs, still mostly asleep, wearing only the rumpled pants from last night, hair even messier than usual, and nibbling at a blueberry muffin. To Kousuke, mornings had about the same appeal as formal outfits. Namely, none. 

Eyes moved behind him and wrapped his arms around the mostly-sleeping nekojin, holding him tightly to his chest. His skin was almost like ice now, but he didn't seem to notice it. 

Kousuke's skin, however, was extremely warm, almost burning against Eyes's chilled flesh. The redhead yelped, snapping awake at the cold. "Eyes? What happened to you? You're freezing!" 

"Nothing happened..." Eyes murmured, nuzzling against the other boy's soft red hair and the nape of his neck. He breathed deeply to bring in that scent that reassured him, his skin warming slightly with Kousuke's presence. "Did I hurt you..?" 

Kousuke sighed, purring slightly at the nuzzling. "No, just startled me. Your skin feels really cold for some reason." 

"I'm sorry..." He didn't just mean for being cold to the touch. But there was no way for him to explain the doubt in himself that had nestled into his thoughts. 

"Nah, it's okay," Kousuke murmured. "I like it when you touch me. The fact that you're willing to do so out in the open in broad daylight tells me you care." 

It told more than that...it spoke of his real fears, which Eyes wasn't sure he liked, but he didn't argue the point. "Let me just...hold onto you for a moment..." 

"For as long as you want," Kousuke promised, closing his own hands gently over Eyes's arms. He still worried about the chill, so he called on his fire in that soft aura he'd used to warm them when Eyes had rescued him from the ocean. 

Eyes gasped as the power of it rippled along his own aura of cold. It made him shudder, but he didn't pull away. The sensation was almost like swords that ground to the hilt to see which one had more strength, but when they both locked and couldn't find a higher ground, they settled for being equals. The resulting hold between them both was like frost at the tips of an ember. 

Kousuke didn't say anything at first, just let himself feel. He liked being in the other's arms, and this feel of equality that came with the mixing of elements just made it all seem more secure, somehow. "I...don't suppose one of the things you're going to grow into is an ability to toss ice like I toss fire?" 

"Without knowing for sure, I'm going to say yes," Eyes replied in a soft whisper, accustoming himself to the feel that would likely be there for good now whenever he was around Kousuke. 

Kousuke grinned. "I'm sure this is going to make sex really interesting." he teased, trying to lighten the dark mood that still hung around his lover. 

That got Eyes to laugh. "Leave it to you to think about the important things, Kousuke." 

"Of course," Kousuke said, puffing himself up, "I am the great and powerful Kousuke-sama!" 

Eyes just shook his head. "Baka..." 

Kousuke purred and just snuggled closer, totally content. "Yup. Your baka."


	16. Chapter 16

Title: The Epic

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 16/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Kanone finds the perfect souvenir to bring home, and he intends to give it all the answers it wanted…at a price much too high to pay. Spoiler warning: some elements from the manga revealed in this chapter

ooooo

Ayumu headed home with his bag slung over one shoulder. He was infinitely glad that Hiyono hadn't followed him, too busy writing up an article for the school's paper. He really wanted to be alone and give himself time to think about all that had been going on recently. And there was definitely a lot to think about. So much that he decided to take a back way home, giving him a little bit longer. He knew that Madoka would be home already, but she was used to him taking a little extra time, especially now that she knew Hiyono had become a part of his school life. He got home about dinnertime, wondering what he'd fix to eat, and let himself in.  
"Your Highness, I'm home..." 

"Ah! Ayumu, come in here. One of your classmates came to see you." Madoka called from the kitchen area.

"One of my...classmates...?" he murmured to himself as he slipped out of his shoes and set his bag down in the hallway. Madoka knew Hiyono's name...and Ayumu really didn't associate with anyone else in school... except one of the Blade Children. Had something happened that they'd come here to find him? He hurried his steps to the kitchen to see what was going on.

It was a Blade Child sitting next to Madoka at the table, but not one he was close to. The coffee-colored eyes of Kanone glinted at him from across the room as he entered the doorway. 

Something cold gripped his chest, the feeling that seeing that man here in his home was terribly wrong. He advanced a couple of steps inward. "H-Hilbert-san... What...what are you doing here?" 

Kanone smiled amiably at him, but there was a dangerous light to his eyes. "I need you to come with me somewhere, Narumi-san." 

Ayumu's breath sped up a little. Something was not right, and he wanted to scream at Madoka for just letting someone like that in the apartment. But how would she know any differently...? She was supposed to be smarter than this! "Where could you possibly want me to go?" 

"To my home and the center of our operations. We have something to discuss. As for _why_ you should come..." Kanone moved amazingly fast, his hand almost a blur as it suddenly lashed out, sinking into Madoka's chest. When he removed it, there was a glowing purple sphere in the Englishman's hand, and the older woman collapsed onto the table. 

"Madoka!" Ayumu rushed forward until he saw the glowing sphere. He was shaking as he came to a stop at the table, fists clenched. "What...have you done...?" 

"The exact same thing I did to Asazuki, to get some _real_ answers last night." Kanone replied, totally casual as he sipped at the coffee Madoka had served him only minutes before. He gazed at the amethyst light in his hand, looking mildly interested. "Hm...purple. Wisdom, nobility, and spirituality. Your sister-in-law has a rather remarkable soul." 

"I could have told you that _before_ you stole it from her, Hilbert!" Ayumu snapped. "However you've done this, you'd better fix it!" He was beyond angry.. and scared. This had been the most emotion Kanone had seen from the younger Narumi since they'd met. 

Kanone merely chuckled. "Temper, Little Narumi. I will put everything to rights...if you come quietly. If not, well, I suppose I'll just have to destroy this pretty little soul, won't I? It wouldn't be hard. Unlike Asazuki, she doesn't have your Web to protect her." 

"What's so important about me?!" For not the first time, Ayumu felt so out of control it made him sick. The difference between this and any other time was that it had always been around people he could trust. Kanone was not one of those people. "You and everyone else have been trying to convince me that I'm not the one, that I'm not good enough! What could you possibly want with me that you'd have to endanger _her_ to get it?!"

Kanone raised an eyebrow. "_You_ were the one that put her in the line of danger last night, Little Narumi." the older boy replied. "Of course, I _could_ have used one of the Blade Children you knew as a hostage, but you gave me the impression that even if you were coming to trust them, you had little true care for them. Thus, you might just have left them to die in my hands, even if it had been Asazuki or Eyes. Maybe especially if it had been one of them, because I learned from the little fool's memories that you know of their attraction and are repelled by it. But when I spoke of your sister, _then_ you showed feeling. And as for not being good enough...well, I have a different theory than the others. I think that it is not so much that you are inferior to your brother, as it is that the two of you just cannot be compared." 

"Leave Madoka out of this." Ayumu stepped towards him. "Are you really saying you want me to fly with you to England?" 

"Yes. I think Eyes has waited too long to give you the talk you need. So you will come with me, and I will tell you the truth of the Blade Children. Then we will see if you can truly bear to immerse yourself in our existence to combat fate." 

"You will not harm her if I come with you?" Ayumu's voice was softer now, trying to get back the composure he was known for having. It wasn't worth Madoka's life to say no, and if this was just to talk like the night before... 

Kanone nodded. "I will give her back her soul, and she will wake up in an hour with no memory of this. If anything, she will merely think she fell asleep at the table. Though you might want to leave a note telling her that you'll be gone a few days." He reached out with his free hand, brushing a few strands of midnight hair away from the empty blue eyes of Ayumu's sister-in-law. "We wouldn't want to put worry lines in such a lovely face, now would we?" 

"Keep your hands off her." Ayumu walked stiffly to the little table near the kitchen, where the two of them usually left their keys and the mail. He scrawled a note on the tablet that was kept there. He left his back to Kanone in the hopes that the other wouldn't see his hand shaking as he wrote. 

Kanone saw it anyway, and the smile he gave was not pleasant. "Are you scared, Little Narumi?" 

"If you already know the answer to something, why ask the question?" Ayumu countered, setting the pen down firmly. 

_Madoka...  
_

"I don't really see what good it's going to do you to take me all the way to another country to be disappointed." 

_I need some time to myself to figure a few things out. Don't worry about school or homework; we already know I can handle it.  
_

Ayumu stepped back over to the table, taking a deep breath. "But if you insist." 

_Don't worry about me. I actually know how to find my way home. Take care until I come back. Love, Ayumu...  
_

"You will see when we get there." Kanone replied calmly, gently lifting Madoka so that her chest was reachable. Once more his hand disappeared within, and when it receded, it was empty. He closed Madoka's eyes and laid her back on the table. "Shall we go?" 

The entire procedure was disturbing to watch, but rather much like a train wreck. Ayumu couldn't look away, and when it was all over, he reached out to touch her throat, making sure that Kanone hadn't lied about the trade of her life. Her pulse was strong, and her breathing even. "I guess we shall." 

Kanone stood up. "As I said, she will be fine. However," his eyes grew hard, "I also have insurance. I've added a small spell, nothing more than a tiny packet of my power. It would act rather like a bomb if I activated it. It fades after a day, but if you try anything to get away before we're on the plane, I will set it off." 

Ayumu swallowed. In the grand scheme of things, he was getting tired of bombs. He had no interest in this lunatic using one on his sister's very soul. "Fine," he grumbled. 

Kanone nodded and walked out the door, not needing to look and see if Ayumu would follow. After all, it would mean the loss of Madoka's life if he didn't. 

Ayumu took a long deep breath and stopped long enough to put his shoes back on. Glancing over his shoulder at his sleeping sister, he resigned himself to whatever was ahead and followed Kanone out. 

Kanone led him down the block to where a car belonging to one of his Japanese associates waited. Admittedly, it wasn't the taxi he had told Eyes of, but at least he was bringing home a souvenir, so to speak. He opened the door and waited for Ayumu to get inside. 

Ayumu spared the other brunette a hard glare before sliding into the backseat, pressing himself as far against the opposite side of the car as he could. If he had to travel with Kanone, he wanted to do it with as much space between them as he was able to get. 

Kanone, however, had other ideas of how he wanted Ayumu to travel. Kanone was a cautious sort, and Ayumu was blindingly intelligent, even if he did have confidence problems. There were still too many ways the boy could cause trouble. So when he'd settled into the car, he reached over and grabbed Ayumu's jaw, forcing those angry golden eyes to meet his own sepia ones. And he began to force his will on that incredible mind. 

"What the--?!" Ayumu felt something like the pressure of a migraine headache seize the sides of his skull. His eyes widened, which only seemed to drag that pain in and spread it further. 

"Sleep, Narumi Ayumu," Kanone murmured, his power wrapping around the younger boy's mind in binds stronger than steel, "sleep until I tell you to wake." 

"They'll...know what's going on..." _Rutherford... Asazuki..._ He began to slump towards Kanone as his eyes fluttered shut. 

"But not in time to save you. Sleep well, Hope of the Blade Children."

ooooo

Kanone sent away the courier with the package for Cassie with a sigh. Five strands of dark brown hair rested in that envelope, and he hoped she had fun with them. After all, she'd actually asked _nicely_ for those, and how often did that happen within a lifetime?  
He closed the door and looked around the room. It was mostly empty, the walls bare and painted white, and only a chair and a tiny couch furnishing it. He nodded to the two Blade Children currently standing on either side of the couch. They were large for their age and amazingly strong. Kanone vaguely remembered hearing that they had come from Oni stock. There were others waiting outside to be called upon, too. After all, they had to shatter the Hope. 

And there was said Hope, lying in slumber on the couch, his hands cuffed together to make sure that he wouldn't try anything foolish. Not that Kanone expected him to. He already knew that Narumi Ayumu was no fool. 

He walked over and sat down in the chair opposite the couch, making himself comfortable. "Wake up, Little Narumi. We have much to discuss." 

Amber-gold eyes snapped open, and Ayumu gasped like one who had been shoved out of sleep by a loud noise. He moved to sit up and almost threw his own body right off the couch with the way his hands were bound. He flopped back down a moment to take stock of his situation. From head to toe, he evaluated. Everything would have seemed perfectly fine...if it weren't for the handcuffs. Before moving again, his eyes swept around the room, finally landing on Kanone. He glared, but slowly sat up, hoping to retain some dignity this time. 

"I'm impressed. It took more effort than one would expect to put you under, and you threw off the effects in seconds once I'd unlocked your mind." Kanone remarked casually. 

Ayumu was no fighter, he knew this, and with his hands impaired there was even less he could do physically against Kanone. He supposed he should have taken those words as a compliment. It seemed like his mind was all he had at the moment. Once he was fully righted, he spread his knees, leaning forward on them so that his chained hands rested between them. He squared his shoulders and fixed his gaze on Kanone's face, letting that casual expression fuel him to the challenge. 

Kanone smiled wider, as if pleased by that challenging expression. "So, what would you like to know first, Little Narumi? This time, the talk will be unencumbered by secrets. Especially since I have already taken the knowledge of your Web from Asazuki's soul." He sighed. "A pity I had to restore him. He really was better as an empty doll. Far more quiet." 

Ayumu frowned. "There's a big difference between stealing his voice and stealing his soul, Hilbert." For some reason, hearing Kanone call him what the others did seemed to taint the nickname. He'd gotten used to it from them, but really didn't like it coming from this Blade Child. "Tell me why I'm really here. If it was just to tell me what I wanted to know, why all the effort to get me to this place?" 

"Because you're a threat to our Fate, of course." Kanone replied. "And if I can't persuade you to abandon your path willingly, it's easier to use force here. Besides, I think that here, what I tell you will be that much clearer." 

"How do you mean?" Ayumu asked, narrowing his eyes. 

"Let me ask you this, a question for a question. Are you afraid of the Blade Children?" 

"It depends on the situation. I concur with the Hunters in that the Blade Children are dangerous, but I get the impression that it's more of a survival instinct than a life's choice. Humans have that same will to survive, so I would be afraid of any human that posed the same type of danger." 

Kanone shook his head. "It's not quite the same thing. You should be afraid of us, Little Narumi. Even the ones who come to you and act as friends or even possible lovers. We're a monstrous breed." 

Ayumu shrugged his shoulders lightly. "I'm not stupid enough to be fearless towards the Blade Children. But how I decide to treat even the monsters is my own concern. The fact that you want me to step away from what you think yours is only inclined to make me believe that you're one of the monsters of the breed." That and the memory of what he'd done to Madoka. 

Kanone chuckled, not offended in the least. "Oh, we're all monsters. The scale of which just depends on whether we've lost ourselves to our Fate or not. We're a created race, you see. An experiment set up by a large group of people and led by one man, our creator, Mizushiro Yaiba, known as the Devil." 

"Define...'created'..." Ayumu leaned forward a little more, wanting to hear this. After all, whatever Kanone would tell him was likely going to be part of the answers he'd been asking Eyes for all this time. 

"I suppose the best way to describe it is as 'mass-produced'. One half of our genetic makeup comes directly from Yaiba. The other half from our mothers, who were volunteers from his organization, known as the Knights. In essence, we're all half-siblings, thus you'll rarely see a straight couple among Blade Children. Bad for breeding. One of our ribs is removed at birth to mark us as from his seed." 

"That sounds cruel. What reason did he have for making so many children?" 

"Why, to kill mankind and replace them as the new human race. What else would he use us for?" 

Ayumu rolled his eyes. "You don't need to say it like it's the answer I should have been expecting. I don't appreciate being made to feel any more ignorant of this than I already do." 

Kanone chuckled. "My apologies. But you must admit, in retrospect it is horribly cliché. I'd be laughing in Yaiba's face myself, were he still alive." 

"So, the elimination of the human race...is that what Fate is?" Ayumu thought back to the things that Kousuke had been telling him as repayment for saving his life. "And do the Blade Children have their minds when it happens?" 

"The elimination is only half of it, really. The rest is that, no, we aren't in control of our minds anymore. What makes us individuals vanishes, leaving only an empty shell and a mere illusion of a personality, but the rest is more of a hive mind, controlled and operated in accordance to Yaiba's plan." 

"Then why bother letting you have lives at all just to lose them?" It was more a question to himself. If Yaiba was dead, he doubted Kanone could answer that with any real surety. 

And really, he couldn't. He shrugged. "Perhaps to hide us until we were fully in our powers? You see, none of the Blade Children are human. And Fate comes for us when those powers have matured. When that happens, we are fully capable of taking out hundreds of people on our own." He raised an eyebrow. "After all, didn't Fate try to claim Asazuki?" 

Ayumu's eyes narrowed. "No, a Hunter did. As much as her program tried to simulate something like Fate, he still managed to free himself from the mindset to be as he is now." 

The older boy shook his head. "Not that. The time after. I saw Asazuki's memories. There was one of a terrible nightmare, of a darkness that came so very close to swallowing him whole..." 

The boy remembered that night, for he'd had the very same dream from his own perspective. If Eyes and Kousuke were to be believed, it was because of him that Fate couldn't take the redhead with it. And that was when they'd started referring to that connection between them as the Web. 

Kanone saw the comprehension in his expression and nodded. "That was no dream, Little Narumi. It was quite real, and you saved your first Blade Child from Fate. I'm actually surprised they didn't tell you just how real it was. That they let you continue to believe it was only a dream or a warning was a disservice." 

"Rutherford would always tell me that it wasn't the right time. I started to believe it after awhile." He wasn't too hurt by the hidden truth. He had a guess that it was Fate that had been the villain in that dream, whether it was real or not. 

Kanone's eyes narrowed at Eyes's name. "You also saved him, in your terror after the dream. And I'm a touch annoyed with that. We are meant to follow Fate. It's what we were born for. You disrupt that." 

"Look, I didn't mean to disrupt anything. The bottom line is that you were all born with the free will to make your own decisions, whether it was Yaiba's intention or not. So if you choose to follow Fate, then walk your own path and leave Rutherford, Asazuki, and their friends follow their own." It made logical sense. If Kanone was just going to lose his mind when Fate claimed him, he would never know if Eyes was at his side anyway. What difference did it make, other than the fact that he had to be in control? 

Kanone shook his head. "I'm afraid that the one who leads our Fate won't stand for that. And neither will I. Especially since the two in your Web have become your Pillars, making you infinitely stronger than your brother. You don't even realize what you are, do you?" 

"Besides only slightly less confused, not really," Ayumu said casually. He knew this was important, and that was exactly the reason why he behaved as if it wasn't. So far he was handling the conversation better than he expected. Maybe that meant he would be rid of this mess and going home soon. 

"Well, let me show you, then." Kanone replied, and snapped his fingers. The two other Blade Children, who had been standing so still and silent as to be statues the whole time, suddenly took hold of Ayumu, effectively immobilizing him and forcing him to stand while Kanone stood and walked over to stand directly in front of the younger boy. 

Ayumu growled, cursing himself for thinking optimistically too soon. He struggled to no avail. "What's the problem?! The handcuffs weren't enough?!" 

"Hush. I just want to make sure you hold still." And then Kanone focused his powers and drove his hand into Ayumu's chest. But instead of removing his soul, he did something different. It felt like a touch, but that touch drove immense pain through Ayumu's body, as if he was burning up from the inside out. 

There was no way that Ayumu stood a chance of holding his composure with pain like that. Clenching his eyes shut, body rigid, he screamed loudly, feeling as if Kanone had taken a hold of a presence deep within him and was yanking it up...out... Something tore through his back, pulling another scream from his already abused throat. He slumped forward, panting, a sheen of sweat on his golden skin, tears dripping unwillingly down his cheeks.

Halfway across the world, Kousuke suddenly fell to his knees, stunned by the sudden immense pain he felt through the Web. 

Eyes felt a share of it, though somewhat duller since he'd been working on his shields after Kanone left. He forced himself to keep playing, the concert almost over now, but he felt like he _had _to be home with Kousuke..._soon.  
_

Kanone removed his hand, assessing his handiwork. "I thought as much," he said, satisfaction in his voice. "There's no way that a Mindbreaker as strong as you could be of human descent." 

The Blade Child's 'handiwork' consisted of a pair of beautiful white wings that arched over the couch, held in that tense position by sheer will. Ayumu had frozen nearly every inch of his body so that he could concentrate on fighting back the pain. Every movement made more, and he just needed a moment to regain himself, figure out what Kanone had done. Pristine white feathers that looked softer than any silk, any cotton, trembled with the effort it took to hold still, some of them shaken loose and drifting to the ground like a gentle snowfall. "What...did you...do to me...?"

Kanone chuckled, sitting back down. "I merely brought your true nature to light. You're of Angelic blood, Little Narumi, though I doubt you're a Seraph like your brother. Not enough wings, for one thing. And Seraphs are Angels of divine justice. They're not meant to oversee a large number of people, which explains why _his_ Mindbreaking abilities only stretched to two people at the most. You are probably in the Virtue class." 

"You're not...making sense again..." Ayumu clenched his teeth, letting the wings settle a little when the pain had dulled. He glanced over his shoulder, and had to take a deep breath when he saw them. 

They were beautiful things, easily large enough to grant him flight if given the opportunity. And as they shifted, the feathers glittered with tiny flecks of gold in the sunlight, as if speckled with gold dust. 

"How am I not making sense? The proof of your heritage is right there."

"Mindbreaking...Seraph...Virtue class..." They felt so _heavy_... Ayumu fumbled with trying to settle them against his back, and they felt like dead weights. He frowned deeply, the worry lines settled into his brow. "How do you know all this and I don't?" 

Kanone watched Ayumu struggle with the wings, knowing he'd probably get the hang of them fairly quickly. It was instinctive, after all. "That's right, being Japanese, you're not so steeped in what are essentially Christian terms. Seraphs and Virtues are ranks of Angels, and I'm sure you know what an Angel is. Seraphs are the highest rank, with the most power and six wings. They're the ones who carry out the supreme justice of their god. Virtues are lower on the scale, and normally manifest as sparks of light. They oversee large groups of people. As for Mindbreaking, _that_ is a very rare gift that only a handful of humans, some Angels, and a few of Yaiba's original tribe can claim. And only the latter two with your strength." 

Ayumu managed to work his wrists in the cuffs so that he could put his face in his hands a moment. He took several long breaths, rubbing at his temples and attempting to make sense of everything. "So this...Mindbreaking..." he began, threading the fingers of one hand through his bangs. "...is that what makes...the Web...? And is that what's strong enough to fight Fate?" 

Kanone nodded, shifting in his chair to get more comfortable. "Mindbreaking, despite that rather violent name, is really an ability to induce a bond of love between yourself and just about anyone in the world, and form a soul-to-soul connection based on that bond. There are, of course, many different types of love, including that of a friend, family, teacher and student, lover. It can also encompass darker aspects of the emotion, such as possession and domination. And you wouldn't have the strength to hold all the Blade Children on your own, not really, except that your type of Web includes the two Pillars, the Empathic and the Telepathic. Those are what give you the strength that threatens Fate...or to be more precise, the _Web_ of Fate." 

Silently, Ayumu drank it in, remembering how he had heard Eyes and Kousuke in his thoughts before going down to dinner with Kanone. Those two always seemed to be the closest Blade Children to him... that must have been where the Pillars were. Gods above...it was starting to make sense and yet had just gotten more complicated at the same time. He didn't know what to do or say, so he idly wondered how he would get the wings to disappear. It wasn't like he could have them at school... 

"Of course, in most cases with Mindbreakers, the Pillars are those you're destined to be with..." Kanone murmured, his expression growing more than a little stormy. 

"'Be with...'?" Was Kanone...jealous? "But I'm not..." 

"Gay? Little Narumi, I've touched your soul. You can lie to yourself all you like, but lying to me just gets you trouble. You don't _love_ them, not yet, but that doesn't mean the desire is not there, no matter how you fool them to keep them away." He sighed, suddenly giving a very predatory smile. "And that is one of the reasons why I'm going to have to ask you to remove your hold from the Web. You are the center. It will collapse without you, even if the Pillars manage to hold it for a short while." 

Ayumu sat up straight again, lowering his hands. That dark expression made him feel chilled, but he held his ground. "So are you asking me this because you really believe that despite free will, every one of the Blade Children should follow Fate?" His eyes narrowed, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. He couldn't feel the desire, not now. Even if it was there, Ayumu wasn't all that convinced that he could love them or be with them. It was too sudden to even consider, especially since he was still trapped here. But Kanone knowing what he had felt and so openly challenging it was all the ammunition he needed. "Or is the real reason you want me out of the way because you can't stand the thought that he'd hold me more willingly than he'd hold you?" Kanone didn't have to guess who _he _was. 

Kanone's eyes narrowed and he flicked his fingers. A small ball of orange light appeared and shot towards Ayumu, slamming into his midsection with the force of a mule's kick. "It's truly not wise to anger me, Little Narumi." 

He hit the back of the couch hard, his wings rustling outward awkwardly, forming a half circle around his shoulders. Ayumu coughed, the blow enough to knock the wind out of him. He rubbed the place where the ball had hit, knowing there'd be a nice bruise soon. "I only asked a question. That's what I'm here for, right?" 

"You're also here to learn. And one of those things, like I said, is that Blade Children, including myself, are dangerous. Yes, I do believe that _all_ of us should follow fate. So do most of us. Eyes's little group and a few isolated others are the only exceptions. And towards that end, we cannot allow you to continue. If you will not step back yourself, we will force you to see why you must." 

Ayumu stood his ground despite his obvious disadvantages. "But you also have other reasons why you're doing what you're doing. And so do I. Nobody... not Rutherford or even Asazuki understands what all of this means... to me. You can't just force me to lose the only chance I've ever had to prove myself to anyone. I won't let you." 

"Is that so? Then let me give you a taste of what we Blade Children are truly made for."

He nodded to the two large men on either side of Ayumu. Once more, they grabbed him and pulled him up, but instead of just holding him, they dragged him out from behind the couch and slammed him hard backwards into the wall.  
Ayumu's wings, fragile like a bird's, shattered with an audible crunch. 

Back in Japan, Kousuke screamed, the pain from the Web suddenly a thousand times worse.

Eyes stumbled through the front door, his skin even more white than normal. He counted his blessings that he hadn't been in traffic still when the next burst of agony went through the Web. "Kousuke...!" he called out, wanting to scream as the redhead had. 

Ayumu fell to the floor, screaming, too overwhelmed by the pain to even try to catch himself with his bound hands. His face pressed to the cold floor, wings limp around him, feeling heavier than ever. Amber eyes were open, but unfocused, the pain occupying every sense he had and then some. It was as if some of him shattered with the wings, but down further than that, he could feel rage in the pit of his stomach. 

Kanone walked over to squat down by Ayumu's suffering form, smirking at the picture he made. "Hm...your blood is a lovely bright red against the white of your feathers. It's a pity I can't feed from you, but Angelic blood is known to be quite toxic to those of Vampire stock." 

"What...a shame..." Ayumu growled, his voice hoarse from screaming. "I...should have...poisoned you...when I had the chance..." He could feel the blood dripping from the feathers, on his skin. It was like a trickle of sensation against a wall of aching. His hands flattened to the floor beneath him, pushing up. 

Kanone caught hold of Ayumu's jaw, tilting his face up to look at him. The eyes Ayumu stared into were by no means human, and very much those of a predator. "Are you scared yet, Little Narumi? You should be. As I said before, Blade Children are monsters, and massacre is our fate. Most of us would be quite happy to destroy you." 

Ayumu used that hold to brace himself enough that he could lean up on his hands, keeping himself upright. He let himself lock gazes with Kanone, already feeling spent, tired, and indeed afraid. But there was the anger too, and it boiled under his skin. "Would it fan your ego...if ... I said yes?" he demanded. "Does it make you...feel better about yourself...if I'm terrified? You're a monster because you choose to be, because it's better than being a man that's scared to lose his mind." 

"It's better than fooling myself into thinking that Fate can be changed. We were engineered specially for one purpose, and you seem to be able to block that purpose with your Web. I won't have it. And I won't allow you to steal away my Eyes, either."

"You did that for yourself, Kanone Hilbert. You and this stupid Fate you've embraced with everything you've got. You deserve to lose your mind _and_ Eyes Rutherford!" Ayumu's senses were wild with adrenaline, a harsh combination of fear and pain. They overruled his common sense, filled him with the need to get away, to tear past whatever was in his way and go home. He could barely focus on Kanone's face, the fiery sepia of those dangerous eyes only making him angrier at his situation, what circumstances had forced on him. He'd never asked for this... and why was the one time he accepted something in his life as his own did it have to be yanked away from him? 

Perhaps the scariest thing was that Kanone didn't strike him for his outburst. Instead, he smirked, as if watching a particularly amusing bug that he'd just torn all but one of the legs off of. "You know, your loud mouth is rather similar to Asazuki's. You both lose any type of caution when upset. I'm a little disappointed in Eyes for letting his interests wander so far below his station. I tried to have that nekojin fool removed, of course, but Samantha failed me. Ah, well...there will be other chances." 

Ayumu's too-wide golden eyes were bright as they stared at Kanone and his expression. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever make it home...or who would find him when he didn't come back. Would Madoka search for him as earnestly as she did for Kiyotaka? Would Hiyono just find another story..? Would Eyes, Rio, and Kousuke give up and surrender to Fate... NO! He couldn't let that happen. He took a deep breath. "Caution would do me no good here, Hilbert," he reasoned, his voice calmer, almost flat compared to what it had been a moment ago. "You and I both know that." 

"Perhaps, Little Narumi, but it may have served you better if you had never stepped into our lives. You're a weak little child, afraid to even contemplate that you might be an entirely different case from your brother. How could someone like you save the Blade Children? Looking at you now, I somehow doubt you'll even be able to keep hold of the ones you've let yourself care for. Eventually, they will be embraced by our Fate, and then they will be just as monstrous as the rest. Though some of the Hunters might still receive anonymous tips, just to weed out the weaker ones. The one who directs our Fate has no use for machines or those that freeze when startled." 

Glaring, Ayumu shook his head. "I hope you're the first one they kill. Believe what you want about me, but I don't think you can control what will happen any more than they can. We'll just have to see by believing in our own causes and not blindly fumble for Fate." 

Kanone continued to smile, as if amused by his defiance. "So you won't step down from being the anchor of your Web?" 

"It. Belongs. to ME." Ayumu wouldn't give up something so important; he'd decided that even when Hiyono was asking him about backing out. Whatever he invited upon himself for standing his ground, he didn't feel like a coward. He wouldn't run like he had before. This was what they had wanted, right? For him to believe...? 

"You're stubborn like your brother, too. You could almost be clones. Very well, then." He stood, raising his gaze to the two taller Blade Children. "Bring him outside. The pack will be waiting there." 

"Pack?" Ayumu blinked, wincing as he was hauled to his feet. "What the hell are you talking about?" 

"That can be answered a couple of ways," Kanone replied, walking out the door, knowing that Ayumu would be brought close behind. "It is a group of Blade Children with Okamijin or Inu blood. They like to stick together, so they're known as the pack. As for the other way to answer...have you ever heard the story of the Wild Hunt, Little Narumi?" 

Whatever it was, it certainly didn't sound pleasant. Ayumu was glad that the other two Blade Children were holding him up as he walked. His broken wings hurt as he took steps, and he knew his equilibrium was off with them in tow. He grit his teeth for a moment, trying to think about the fall of his feet rather than the limp weight of the wings. "No." 

Kanone nodded. "I suppose you wouldn't. That is from the lore of this country, not Japan. Well, to put it simply, there are a king and queen of the Fae, or magical spirits. In this country, it's mostly things like Elves, Faeries, Brownies, and such. Oberon and Titania had one particular hobby, known as the Wild Hunt. When a human had insulted them, or committed some sort of crime that the Fae could not ignore, they would snatch up that human in the dark of night and place him in the woods of their lands. Then, they would let the human run, as fast as he could, while the royals and their court hunted him down like a deer or fox. They used magical Hounds, of course, but the pack will serve in their place for you." 

A sick feeling settled in the pit of Ayumu's stomach, the fear now a stark reality as he easily put himself in the place of the unfortunate humans in that story. He paled, taking a long, deep breath. "There's something I don't understand..."

Kanone looked back at him, his body turned to a dark silhouette by the sunlight from outside. "Because you _are_ useful in other ways, Little Narumi. It just takes being broken." 

Ayumu gasped and yanked back, trying to pull free from the two that held him. "I won't..." 

Eyes had never thought he'd feel fear like this. Something told him that it wasn't his that he was feeling, but that only made him more afraid of it. He stumbled through the hallway, passing Rio along the way. "Rio...call...Little Narumi..." He opened Kousuke's bedroom door.

Kousuke was on his knees, hugging himself as if afraid he'd fall to pieces otherwise. Unlike Eyes, Kousuke was an Empath. Feelings and emotions were what he sensed the strongest, and his shields were a great deal weaker in response to that. The pain, the fear, the anger...it was making him lose focus on reality, and he wasn't able to tell what was coming from himself, and what was coming from outside. 

Discovering Kousuke, Eyes knew that the other had to be feeling what he felt. He wondered if it was something wrong with Kousuke, thinking that perhaps it was a reaction to something the Hunter had done. _Kousuke..._ "Kousuke...!" He dropped down and took hold of the redhead.

Mentally or physically, Kousuke barely noticed that he wasn't alone, so buried in the overwhelming emotions he was receiving. He couldn't find his center, and that made him scared and even more off balance. 

Kanone walked out into the daylight, looking far more beautiful in the golden rays than someone as demonic as him ever had a right to look. "Oh, you will. You won't be able to help it. And just think, it will be from the same people you are so very interested in saving. Another thing about us monsters, Little Narumi...we're not a terribly grateful bunch." 

Ayumu was sure he had his balance now, at least temporarily. Panicking wasn't going to do him any good...but unfortunately, he had the sneaking suspicion that logic would do him about the same amount. He watched Kanone, uncharacteristically wishing he had his hands free to hit the older teen. "Some of you aren't, that's for sure." 

Kanone chuckled. "Sticks and stones, Little Narumi. Sticks and stones." He walked over to where a group of about nine were standing, all young men and women the same age as Kanone, and all with hard cat-slit eyes. There was something..._empty_ about those eyes, like what was staring through them wasn't really something that could be called either human or humane. 

Kanone was addressed by only two of the nine, one boy and one girl, obviously the leaders. 

"That him? The one that Master Hizumi wants us to hunt?" the male asked. 

The female looked Ayumu up and down, her eyes bloodthirsty. "Tell me we can play with this one. He's a lot more attractive than our usual prey. And his blood smells absolutely heavenly, if you don't mind the little pun." 

Kanone chuckled. "The orders are quite simple. You've got free reign so long as he's left alive at the end. The other requirement...well, you already know that's the job of your beta male." 

Ayumu tried to take a step back from them, gazing around at all of their faces and swallowing hard. There were too many of them, and only one of him. He wouldn't be able to outrun them for long unless he could come up with a plan quick. He barely heard what they were saying, his eyes darting around the spacious landscape, searching for his options. 

Eyes tried to seek him in the Web, though it felt like something had shaken it so that it was a bumpy path to Kousuke's mind. _We have to get control... Kousuke... it's me. Answer me..._

Kousuke heard Eyes, but only barely. He couldn't _find_ him, but he could hear him. He whimpered, just trying to reach out with his spirit, hoping that the other could find him instead. _Help me...!  
_

Eyes held him tighter, pressing his forehead to Kousuke's, his eyes clenched shut. _I'm here..._ He reached out with all the strength he had to latch onto the restless, fearful presence of the redhead's spirit. It felt like embracing a flickering flame, and he fashioned his own aura as if it were a shield to block the wind from blowing the tiny spark completely out. 

_Eyes..._ Kousuke's spirit settled, but not much. There was only so much that Eyes could block. He whimpered, clinging to the musician desperately, as if afraid he'd be swept away if he let go. _I can't control it...it's too strong...someone...someone's hurting..._

_I thought it was you..._ Eyes wouldn't let go. Whatever this was that had them trapped in the thoughts and emotions, he couldn't lose Kousuke to the storm of it. There was too much out there, who knew if he'd be able to stay afloat.

Kousuke shook his head in the negative. Until the pain had suddenly torn through the Web, he'd been just fine. Times like this, he _really _wished the Hunter had left him well enough alone! _It's not coming from me...but...if it's not coming from you either, then who...?  
_

"Eyes?" Rio called from the door, holding her cell phone. "I called Little Narumi's, but got his sister. She says he's vanished somewhere for a few days." 

_  
_Whispers... Ayumu heard them, but he couldn't make out any words, couldn't reach who was saying them. He was too far away... 

Kanone turned back to Ayumu, that predatory smile still on his face. "You're under a bit of a handicap with those wings of yours, and I don't want to make this too easy for the pack. They'd never forgive me if I took the fun out of their hunt." 

"Damn straight," the alpha male said. "Easy prey is boring." 

"Besides, they scream more if they're able to put up a fight." the female alpha added.  
Kanone nodded to them in acceptance. "So...we'll remove the handcuffs, perhaps? And a ten-minute head start. Does that sound fair, Little Narumi?" 

It was about as fair as someone like Kanone and a bunch of hungry Blade Child wolves could fathom, and he knew that mouthing off wouldn't get him anything better, so he nodded silently, holding out his hands. He'd taken stock of the area...the trees would be very difficult to climb with the wings. He'd either get tangled or not be able to haul that much weight upwards in the first place. He had only two options and he wondered how long he could stay running and if he'd be able to make it off the property. He'd been unconscious since before leaving Japan. Even if he was up on his geography, there'd be no way to tell where exactly he was or where he'd end up. He hated it...and he hated the way they talked about him like some defenseless little animal. He supposed it was true, but that didn't make him like that any better. 

Kanone pulled the key to the cuffs out of his pocket and took hold of Ayumu's wrists, unlocking the cuffs in a quick movement. They fell to the ground, and Kanone stepped back, lifting his wrist to check a watch that had been hidden under the long sleeve of his jacket. "Better get going. I'll set the pack loose as soon as ten minutes have passed."


	17. Chapter 17

Title: The Epic

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 17/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

And to everyone that has been keeping up with us and written us such fantastic reviews, THANK YOU!! It's very encouraging and inspiring to know you're enjoying this as much as we are. 3

Summary: Thanks to Kanone, Ayumu's newly formed Web starts to crumble while Kousuke and Eyes feel it halfway across the world…

ooooo

_I hear they're getting closer_

_Their howls are sending chills down my spine_

_And time is running out now_

_They're coming down the hills from behind…_

_The Howling – Within Temptation_

Ayumu took only a second to glance at the numbers eyeing him with hungry intensity once more before running off towards the thickest grouping of trees he'd seen in his limited gaze of the area. _Wolves, huh? Hunters with exceptional senses of hearing and smell... Best to use that to my advantage... _When he was covered at little better by the foliage and shade, he leaned against the trunk of a tree, closing his eyes and gathering his thoughts. _By having me out there where they all could see me, they got a chance to pick up my scent, which will be one of the first things they'll use to find my location again. I really want some aspirin..._ He unbuttoned the white shirt that had been beneath his uniform coat, starting to walk again as he tried to get it off. _Damn these wings.._ He pulled a little too hard to get the fabric off and let out a soft sound of pain as it jolted the fractured bones. He heard the shirt tear, however, and braced himself to pull it the rest of the way off. A louder cry left him, and he staggered a little. _This is going to be the fastest ten minutes in the longest day of my life..._

ooooo

_It's not coming from me...but...if it's not coming from you either, then who...?  
_

Eyes lifted his head, a horrified look on his face, as if Rio's words had just answered Kousuke's question. He couldn't jump to conclusions so quickly, could he? "Call the girl...see if she knows where he went..." _I don't know if we want the answer to that question, Kousuke.  
_

There was another flash of pain along the Web, and Kousuke flinched, letting out a soft gasp. 

Rio shook her head. "I already asked. She has no idea. The note Little Narumi left didn't say where he'd be, just that he needed to think." 

Eyes winced and tightened his hold on Kousuke. "I need Jhette. Now..."

Rio bit her lip, not quite understanding, but knowing something Very Bad was happening. "I'll go down and see if Riku can get his imaging systems working enough to let him talk up here." She didn't say the obvious, that both Eyes and Kousuke looked less than capable of going down themselves at this point.

Eyes didn't know what was happening, but he buried his face in Kousuke's neck, a feeling of dread filling him to the brim. "Run..." he whispered to that feeling, wherever it was coming from.

ooooo

_Seven minutes..._ Ayumu trudged a path through the thicket of trees, forward and back, then repeating his steps. His shirt was in shreds in one hand, and every now and then he'd stop to affix one to a tree branch or leave it somewhere. Several of the strips were stained at least a little red from his wings, and he knew that there was plenty of scent in those droplets to attract the pack. He wished he could have found some standing water, but he didn't think he had enough time for that. He needed to spread his scent around more; unsure of what he would do about them after such a diversion. It probably wouldn't keep him safe for long, but maybe give him more time to get to someplace different or come up with another plan. On his way to another area, he picked up a rather long, dead tree limb and clenched it in his free hand until the dried bark bit into his palm. _I will NOT go down without a fight.  
_

Ayumu knew when the ten minutes had passed, because the eerie sound of the pack's howls started up. That howling got more annoyed and frustrated as they started running into the little diversionary measure Ayumu had set up. 

_Reckless I might be, but not stupid..._ Ayumu had picked a direction that he hoped would lead him off the property. Having no idea what could be beyond the property, he prayed that maybe he'd stumble into a neighbor's yard or onto a street. _Something_. In the last five minutes, he'd used up all the bloody strips and doubled back on himself more than enough times. His muscles ached in protest, lungs burning for air, but he kept moving at a jog. He was so tired and the tattered wings rocked against him, making him stumble more than once. Pausing, he pressed his free hand to the rough bark of one of the trees. Tears ran down his cheeks unbidden as he forced himself to concentrate through the pain to tuck his wings as tightly as he could against his back. They rested at odd angles due to the breaks, and it took all he had not to scream. When it was over, he bit his tongue, dragging his next breath and letting it out in a whimper before he started to move again. _Please! Let there be something else out here!_

It took a while, but the howls of the pack got closer and closer with every minute, as they began to figure out his real trail. 

Ayumu couldn't run much more; if they caught up to him, he'd never have the strength to fend them off. Even if he thinned out their numbers, maybe he could run again… Crouching down behind another tree, he forced himself once more to breathe, concentrate on where they might be. His legs were tucked beneath him, weight resting on the balls of his feet so that he could move forward if he had to. There was little more preparation to be had in the state he was in, and now all that was left was to wait and stay alert. 

The brunette tilted his head, wishing that he'd gotten some cool non-human blood, like Kousuke's. Then he might have stood a better chance of witting his way out of this. He would be able to hear better, smell better, see better as well, and then maybe the terms would be a little more on the equal side. No time for regrets now... He listened for the first one to get close--and struck. He sprung forward at the first sight of the large, furry head. He gulped back fear at the size of those jaws and tackled the creature. One hand tangled in the scruff of its neck as he barreled his full weight into the wolf. The other hand brought the blunt end of the tree limb down on the animal's skull as hard as he could manage. 

The wolf gave a loud yelp and went down, but the others weren't far behind, and Ayumu could see their forms moving in between the trees, coming closer. Both wolves and dogs, none of them smaller than a rottweiler. 

Ayumu gave up on manners, muttering a blistering curse as he moved to put the fallen wolf's body between his own and its companions. His eyes flickered to the shadows, counting them as he bared the makeshift staff before him again. He wondered if the actual death of one of the pack would slow them down at all, but the thought chilled him and nauseated him. Even if it would, he couldn't bring himself to kill it. He couldn't tell whether or not to be angry at himself for that weakness. 

The pack continued to come, a couple stopping to check their fallen pack mate, but leaving him readily enough when they determined he wasn't dead or seriously injured. This close, Ayumu could see the hunger in those horrible flat eyes, and while they may have been told not to kill him, it was obvious they knew lots of other things they could do instead. 

Ayumu backed up, trying to think of a way to run again...which way he could go. That tiny voice in the back of his head telling him to flee...he was beginning to think that was some really good advice... 

A line of fire suddenly blazed up his back, along with the sound of feminine laughter. When he turned to look, the alpha female was standing there, looking human except for the ears, claws, and tail. In her hand was a bloody switchblade, which she licked clean with every sign of enjoyment. "Hm...for a 'savior', you have good flavor. And if you're so drained you can't move, you can't go sticking your nose where it's not wanted."

ooooo 

Eyes hissed and arched his back as if something had cut him, his fingers digging into Kousuke's arms unintentionally. _What... was that...?_

Kousuke grit his teeth, trying not to cry out, and clung to Eyes, desperately trying to raise his own shields enough so that everything wouldn't overwhelm him so badly. 

Distantly feeling his lover cling to him, Eyes fought hard to raise his own shields, but he was fumbling. He didn't have as much time as Kousuke had to adjust to his new talents and having the distraction of this pain and fear wasn't helping him focus.

_  
_ooooo

_  
_The brunette stumbled to the side, his immediate reaction to swing the branch in his hands very much like a club, slamming it into the back of her hand. Hot, sticky blood trickled down his back, and he staggered with the force put behind his own blow. He was panting, angry at himself for miscounting and letting himself be snuck up on. 

He was surrounded now. No matter which way he turned, there was at least one behind him, the wolf and dog shapes melting away into the half-human forms similar to what he'd seen Kousuke sport. Except that Kousuke had never looked so eager to take him apart...  
The next attack came in the form of lightning, a sickly green light that burned and tore its way through him, the voltage of it just low enough to keep him from passing out. These people wanted to cause pain, and they couldn't do that when he was unconscious. 

Ayumu crumpled, hugging himself, though it did little good against the electric tremors that were already within his body. His eyes were wide open, vaguely distinguishing the shapes that closed in on him. _So much for a level...playing field... Have...to get up..._ He dropped one hand to the ground, trying to push up to his feet again.

The earth suddenly shifted, and Ayumu sank several inches into what was suddenly soft mud. And then it hardened again, effectively trapping him and holding him down. And then, the whole pack attacked at once. Everything blurred into the pain of claws and teeth.

ooooo

Kousuke couldn't help it. He screamed Ayumu's name, feeling the other boy's pain but unable to do anything about it but try to hold on. He scrabbled for his shields, desperation fueling him, knowing that if he continued to drown in this pain, he really would lose himself. But the emotions he was receiving made it harder, because they slammed into him with the force of a semi truck. 

When Kousuke could find his way out of the blunt trauma of the shared pain, he could feel Eyes shaking in his arms. It was taking all the musician had to hold himself together now, Kousuke the only thing keeping him from being driven down. Like the other, he couldn't let it consume him or he feared he'd never bring himself back again. 

ooooo 

The world was a blur of feathers, fur, and pain for Ayumu. He clawed at the packed earth that held the bulk of his body immobile, kicking and screaming as much as he could. He couldn't escape the relentless tearing, surprised he could feel the blood amidst the other more intense things that had captured him. Ayumu wouldn't scream... he knew nobody would hear him, and he didn't want to give Kanone the satisfaction. He knew the other had to be watching... 

And then a pair of hands, wet with Ayumu's own blood, touched his forehead, and suddenly the pain wasn't just in his body as his mind was suddenly raked by psychic claws to match the ones tearing at his body. 

Amber eyes opened wide as Ayumu's head fell back, agony washing everything away so that they looked almost dead. The strain of taking both mental and physical at once took the last bit of fight he had within him. He couldn't think anymore, couldn't see anything beyond a haze of red over an unfocused gaze. "H...help...me..." he murmured, coughing back blood and trying to breathe. 

ooooo 

"No...NO!" Eyes slumped into Kousuke's arms, his hands going to the sides of his head as if it would explode if he didn't hold it in place. "Ayumu..." His voice caught, and he felt the sting of tears burn down his chilled skin. It had been so long since he cried; he would have sworn that he bled liquid fire from his eyes.

ooooo

_:They'll do this to you too, you know.:_ a voice whispered in Ayumu's mind, images of the six Blade Children he knew back in Japan appearing behind his eyes. Then the image changed, grew bloody as they were depicted as the heartless murderers that Ayumu had first thought them to be. _:They're just like us, and sooner or later, they'll hurt you just like this. Don't you think you should fear them?:  
_

_No...that can't be true..._ Ayumu's voice, even in his own mind, sounded distant--as if he were hearing himself through a very long, dark tunnel. _Isn't that why I exist? To keep them from becoming that...?_ Did his life mean nothing if he couldn't keep them from hurting him like this...? 

The laughter in his head was cruel. _:Do you really think you could keep them from Fate for the rest of your life? One little slip, just ONE, and they will turn on you. It's not like they need you for anything besides that flimsy Web of yours. When you fail, they will kill you. And we will be here to fight over the remains...:  
_

Tears fell from empty eyes, Ayumu's mind trying to deny what he was hearing. But he'd seen all on his own how the Blade Children had killed when someone got in their way or wasn't useful to them anymore. He didn't want to die...not from them, not from anything... He had to live...no matter the cost to them. _I...can't fail...  
_

_:Can't fail? How could you succeed? Even Kiyotaka failed. What could _you_ do? No matter what, you will fail, because you're too weak!:_ The mental claws were digging deeper, wrapping around the core of his mind, making it even harder to think straight. All that could be focused on was the pain, and the reality that the ones doing it were the ones he was supposed to be saving... 

_Stop! ...it hurts... please! Get away from me! _It was as if the psychic talons had struck something beneath the mess of aching emotions. Anger... It was like a hot red sphere in the core of all that fueled Ayumu Narumi in this very moment. It blazed with his hatred of being so helpless, of being so easily torn apart for something he couldn't help... He wanted it to all go away, wished he could burn everything away until he couldn't feel anymore... 

ooooo 

Eyes broke down against Kousuke, as if he'd been burned by that very same rage, he could feel it that keenly. Shaking violently, he sobbed into the other Blade Child's shoulder, as if he'd lost control of everything too. _Don't...please don't... You can't let us go... We believe..._

ooooo_  
_

The images shifted. They weren't just bloody now, but brutal. The Blade Children he knew, staring at him with the same horrible flat eyes, hurting him and laughing at his pleas for it to stop, not even granting him the freedom of death, but just making him suffer on and on...

ooooo 

Kousuke held himself rigidly against Eyes, only a small part registering the horrible fact that Eyes, cool unflappable Eyes, was crying. The rest of him was trapped, burned by the scorching emotions of anger and hatred. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see...it was almost as bad as getting swallowed by Fate again. No, it was worse, because this was coming from someone who _should_ trust them enough not to break away...

ooooo

The strength of the Web itself was pulled taut, those images pulling the chords that led from Kousuke and Eyes to the younger Narumi until they could barely breathe. Eyes was panting, drinking in as much air as he could. He knew from Ayumu's thoughts that it wasn't a matter of trust, it was a matter of how much damage his spirit could take, how many times he could be beaten down before he gave up completely. And like a rope of souls, it began to show the strain of being tested this hard so soon. The smaller threads that made up the whole began to snap, each little give feeling like a knife of despair. 

ooooo

Ayumu was screaming now, the nightmare that was being laid out before him was made to feel too real for him to ignore. In his mind, he begged and pleaded for those he thought were friends to stop, to be normal again. They couldn't have forgotten him and how they believed in him, could they? Did this mean...that he had...to get past them to save himself from this agony? A memory of something Kousuke had once said was dredged up from his memory. _Kill or be killed...that's every day for us!_ The hurtful voice in his head agreed. The only way to get away completely from those that hurt Ayumu would be through bloody retribution. If he wanted to be free from the pain, then he'd have to kill for that freedom. 

ooooo

Kousuke whimpered as he felt the Web fray. It felt like he was fraying right along with it, and it hurt, the despair cutting at his mind like razors. 

"Hang...onto me...Kousuke..." Eyes's voice was weak, thick with tears. _I think ... we're going to lose him..._

ooooo

And once more, the image shifted. Now, it was just the likenesses of Asazuki and Rutherford, but _what_ they were doing was far more painful. They'd told Ayumu they wanted him. Now they were taking him, whether the younger Narumi consented or not. And still was that whispered thought that the only way to break fully from this happening was to stay away, and if they followed, to kill. 

The soft, sizzling sound of Ayumu's blood dripping to the ground was lost to his hoarse screams. The angelic power that was within him, the power to hold hundreds together, could easily tear them apart. The earth that held him so tightly, now soaked with crimson, began to crumble, shattered eyes drowning in molten gold until there was no sign of the boy that had once occupied their clear gaze. His hand pulled free from the ground, dirt sliding away as he gripped the wrist that was near his head, squeezing it until he heard the bones grind. _It's going to be me. If it has to be one or the other...it's going to be ME!_ Broken wings lifted from the dirt, the pain immaterial now, for something else entirely consumed Ayumu. In the sudden dog pile of his defenselessness, the Alpha female had forgotten all about her switchblade, and Ayumu sought it now. Bloody fingers closed around the hilt, and he gave an empty smile, turning to slash at the nearest canine, that which had captured his mind. 

There was a scream, and the hands fell away, the images fading from his mind. But the little horrible voice was still there, urging the wounded Angel to hurt and kill and keep killing until there was no one left to hurt him.

Another wolf collapsed with a howl as Ayumu found strength in the insanity, the last part of the visions breaking through to the core of him. That little voice seemed to delight in the bloodshed, fair trade for what had been done to him. And how dare those he trusted wound him like that, he wouldn't stand for it. Those sightless gold eyes fixed on another of the dogs, and Ayumu licked his lips. 

ooooo

Kousuke gripped at Eyes's arms, his fingers clutching hard enough to bruise, and his breathing was getting fast and erratic, well on the way towards hyperventilation. _Hurts...it hurts...! I can't stop it!  
_

Eyes couldn't stop it either, and all he could do was force himself to keep his own mind afloat, the slight relief of pressure coming when the hold on Ayumu's mind fell away. But what was left could be considered just as frightening. The scars that had resulted would be difficult to remove, and it made the pianist tremble. It hurt him so much to feel the last few threads of their link tearing away, and he couldn't find a trace of Ayumu's true mind in it to latch onto. 

Kousuke screamed again as the last thread of the central part of the Web snapped, leaving only what he and Eyes could hold up on their own. And he knew it wouldn't last. Their gifts wouldn't hold even their own sections long, and then Fate could take them both. And the sudden emptiness of Ayumu's mind except for those burning traces of hatred, betrayal, madness and anger still cut at him, though the sense of it was growing weaker with Ayumu's withdrawal.  
Kousuke honestly didn't know whether he was going to break down or pass out.

ooooo

From where Kanone watched the result of the Hunt, a shadow fell beside him. A quiet, deep voice murmured, "If you wish to keep the rest of that pack alive, you'd best call them away from the child now, Master Kanone." A ponytail of rich ebon fluttered in the breeze, crimson eyes fixed on the carnage that unfolded before them. "He's broken, just as you wanted." 

Kanone glanced up at the dark haired boy next to him and smiled. "Yes. And he will never allow himself to get near Blade Children ever again." He stuck his fingers in his mouth, giving a loud, sharp whistle that could be heard even above the snarls of the pack and the labored breathing of one broken Angel. The pack dispersed, leaving Ayumu alone on the blood-soaked grounds, surrounded by the bodies of those he had taken down before the retreat. 

"And just think," Kanone said, his tone conversational, "to top all this off, Cassie thinks she might be able to use him as a Hunter, with a little work. I know she's wanted an assistant in weeding out the weaker Blade Children." 

Ayumu felt himself falter with the retreat of the pack, taking first one step forward, then another. The blade dropped from his hands, and he sank to his knees. The feral grin was gone, replaced by an expression gone slack with overwhelming pain and exhaustion. He glanced down at his scarlet-painted fingers and for a single moment, the ache of regret touched his beautiful face. Then there was nothing. Spent as he was, he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"The Huntress had better beware that he never discover what she is, or he will try to kill her too. With that kind of ammunition, he might give her a run for her money," the young man said thoughtfully. He stared at the fallen Angel, crossing his arms. "You're pleased with how things turned out, Master Kanone?" 

Kanone nodded. "Oh, very pleased, Justin. And I'm sure Hizumi will be, too. As for Cassie...let's face it, she'd most likely welcome the challenge. She's always been fond of dangerous risks. I swear, the woman should never get into gambling." 

"I'll go retrieve the boy," Kanone's companion said. "You may wish to prepare a room for him." 

Kanone nodded. "I already thought of that. The Blue Room has been converted for his occupation. And see that he gets patched up a bit. After all that work, it would be a bit of a shame if he were to die from blood loss or infection." 

"As you wish." 

ooooo

When Rio returned with Riku, she found the other two Blade Children huddled against each other. Eyes still had his hands buried in his hair, holding on to his head, which pounded horribly. The soft sound of his crying was unusual in the sudden silence. 

Kousuke didn't look all that far from tears himself, and was as pale as a sheet, his eyes dilated to the point where there was only a vague ring of color around black. He was trembling, hugging himself again as he'd been when Eyes first found him, just trying to adjust to this sudden and horrible change. 

"Dear gods..." Rio murmured in quiet horror, staring at the scene in front of her. 

Riku might not have known the boys for very long, but she ached at the sight of them. "What do we do...?" she asked the girl at her side. "Do you...know what happened?" 

Rio shook her head. "I honestly don't know. But...Eyes asked me to call Little Narumi before this happened, and he looked worried when I told him he wasn't at home. It might have something to do with that." She really hoped not, though. 

The tattered remnants of the Web pulled at Kousuke, told him that Eyes was hurting. And as much as he ached, the redhead couldn't leave the other Blade Child to suffer alone. So even though he was sore from the soul out, as well as dazed and shocky, he let go of the tight hold he had on himself, reaching up to try and wipe away the tears he could see running down the musician's pale face. 

Eyes tilted his head to the gentle touch, it being the first contrast to all the abrasive feelings they'd gone through together. "...I'm sorry..." the silver-haired boy whispered. He didn't know if he could have stopped what was happening, but he wished he could have done _something_. 

"I'll consult with Jhette to see what I can find," Riku said, also hoping that this didn't have to do with Ayumu's disappearance. Especially since it seemed that a wary trust had built between those three. 

Kousuke just shook his head, saying without words that it wasn't Eyes's fault. He didn't dare try to talk, or he'd break down as well. It was bad enough that Eyes was crying. Rio and Riku didn't need to see him fall to pieces too. So he just pulled Eyes into a tight hug, no longer really caring who was watching. 

Rio sighed. "I'm not sure Jhette will even understand enough of this to help. We may have to ask them directly." 

"After they've gotten themselves together.. Should we stay or should we leave them?" Riku had no way of knowing which would be better, though it was part of her protective instinct to want to go to them and at least be near. 

Rio looked at the two on the floor, her eyes dark with worry and sadness. "They need privacy for a little bit, but we don't go far." Rio pitched her voice loud enough for the two to hear, though she wasn't sure they'd notice. "When you're ready, call us back in. We'll be waiting in the room across the hall." 

Eyes heard her, but he didn't answer. He had a lot of work to do on getting himself back to where he should be. Regardless of the Web being in tact or not, the message had been very clear that Little Narumi was in extreme danger. And there was no way that he could do anything about that while he was in the state he was in. 

Kousuke waited until Rio and Riku had left the room, and then squeezed his eyes shut, his own tears starting to fall as he trembled. "What do we do now?" he whispered, his voice hoarse from screaming so much. 

"We...have to find him..." Eyes answered, his voice just as strained. He took one of Kousuke's hands and twined their fingers tightly. His free hand reached up, wiping the tears away with the same gentleness that Kousuke had used for him. 

Kousuke gave a short laugh, but it was so bitterly caustic as to burn through steel. "No we don't. I can only think of one person who'd want to hurt him like that, to make him snap the Web." He clutched at Eyes's hand like a lifeline, his own heart aching. He hadn't realized Ayumu already meant so much. 

Eyes dropped his head, the guilt apparent. He knew who that one person was too, and that he hadn't expected something like this hurt him. It was doubly painful that, even though he knew that Kanone wasn't the same as he used to be, he never would have thought he was so vindictive as to break a young boy this bad. Hope or not, Ayumu was still a high-school age kid, with no real reasons that he knew of to be stuck in the middle of this war against Fate. Eyes felt as if he'd betrayed Ayumu.

Kousuke picked up on the guilt, and his empathy, already battered and abused from the raw and powerful emotions from Ayumu, reacted with pain. Kousuke shuddered, swaying slightly as his vision grayed out for a moment. He quickly put up his shields as tight as he could, wanting to save Eyes from feeling _more_ guilt for making the redhead pass out. "Please, don't..." he gasped, stopped to get his breath, and then began again. "Don't blame yourself. If you didn't know Kanone would go this far, no one would have. It's not your fault." 

"We need to bring Ayumu home... Even if he doesn't want to be part of the Web, we owe him that much." Eyes pushed the guilt further back, reminded by Kousuke's ashen complexion that keeping it in the front of his mind would only hurt the redhead too. 

Kousuke nodded, but didn't voice his own fears. If they didn't get Ayumu to rebuild the Web, what little was left would collapse, and they would both be vulnerable to Fate again. When his part of the Web collapsed, he'd be engulfed, and he'd cease to exist as himself. Sure, he'd always expected to end up like that anyway, but he worried about what he would do, a mindless Blade Child surrounded by those fighting Fate. 

"Stop thinking about it. When we start thinking about the 'ifs', we lose sight of what's before us..." Eyes was starting to talk like himself again. He didn't think he'd be the same for a long time to come after this night, but for the sake of those who were depending on him, he had to get control once more. 

Kousuke's anxious eyes lifted, tears still streaming silently down the ashen face. Kousuke was visibly scared, not just himself, but for Ayumu. _I felt so much hatred and anger in those few seconds...and I don't know _who_ it was aimed at. The thought that it might be at us, that Kanone got him to somehow blame us for this...I can't help it. I'm terrified.  
_

_I felt it too, Kousuke... I felt everything... I can't tell what he was seeing, he was too far away, but the thought that Kanone may have turned him against us frightens me to death._ Again, Eyes's long, graceful fingers brushed away the tears that fell. 

"I don't want to have to fight him, Eyes," Kousuke whispered, leaning into the gentle hand, eyes already despairing. The redhead was a pessimist by nature, and it was obvious he was already expecting the worst. 

"I don't want to either... let's pray we don't have to. But all that only comes after we've gotten him back. Let's concentrate on that first, all right?" He bowed a little, kissing Kousuke's forehead. 

Kousuke nodded, reaching up to pull Eyes into a hug. "Yeah...but as much as I hate the fact, it won't be now. I don't think either of us is in any shape for rescue missions overseas." 

Eyes shook his head, holding Kousuke into the embrace with his free arm. The other hand was still gripping the redhead's not quite painfully tight. "I hate to agree with you, but we need rest, especially since I know..." He took a deep breath. "I have to face Kanone to get to Ayumu." 

"Not alone," Kousuke whispered fiercely. "Never again. If you call for me, I'll come to help, no matter where I am. I swore I wouldn't let him hurt you again." 

"This time, he's hurt us both... We can't just stand back and let him think he's won. We'll get Ayumu back...I can face Kanone, as long as you're with me." 

Kousuke nodded. "Should we call the girls back in and start planning, or just try to sleep? I warn you, my bed's still damp." 

"I'll tell them on the way back to my room that we need to rest first. I won't be able to think very far ahead in this condition." 

Kousuke nodded, rubbing at his sore eyes and realizing he was _still crying dammit_. As if he needed to feel even more pathetic. He took a deep breath and told himself to suck it up already. "Yeah. Me either. If I tried planning in this condition, we'd probably end up attempting to sail to England in a boat made of rice paper."

There were still tear-streaks on Eyes's face as well when he stood up, helping Kousuke to his feet to. "And that will get us barely any further than the dock. Who knows what might happen if you let me try as well. Rest first, plan later."

The redhead wasn't arguing. He was tired enough that he just moved as Eyes directed without much in the way of thought or comment. However, he refused to let go of his grip on Eyes's hand, a sure sign of his anxiety. 

Eyes leaned into the doorway across the hall. "I have grave news, which I'm sure you've already in part figured out," he said to the two girls that had been waiting almost-patiently. 

Rio looked up at Eyes and nodded, feeling even more ill at ease with just how fragile the two of them looked. Neither of them were people that she would have described that that word until this moment, and she didn't like it.

Riku didn't like it either, and it showed very plainly on her face. "It's the Hope...something really bad has happened to him." 

"In a mild way of putting it, yes. He is with Kanone," Eyes said quietly, holding back the guilt that came so that he wouldn't bombard Kousuke with it again. 

Kousuke knew Eyes was feeling it, though, and squeezed his hand to tell him it was okay. 

Rio went pale, but nodded. "Do you want us to see if Jhette can fly us there?" 

"Yes. Jhette's assistance in getting Little Narumi back is vital. Anything that he can do would be greatly appreciated," Eyes replied. "I know how to find Kanone... And I'm not going to let him get away with hurting Ayumu." 

Rio raised an eyebrow. "You'd better not be thinking of leaving me behind. He's my friend too." She got up, ready to start working. 

That brought a slight smile to Eyes's face. "I would never deny you the choice of coming with us, Rio. We need you too." 

"No way I'm getting left out of this happy little family reunion we're going to have," Riku said, cracking her knuckles. "This time, I have no reason to hold back." 

Rio grinned at Riku, then turned and looked assessingly at the two boys. "Eyes, since this definitely counts as a state of emergency, I'm going to speak plainly. You both look like crap. Go to bed. Riku and I can get things started on our own, so get some rest. We can leave tomorrow, after Kousuke comes back from school." 

"School?!" Kousuke exclaimed, breaking out of the semi-daze he'd fallen into, "Why should I--" 

Rio speared him with a glare. "Because if at least you don't go, Hiyono's going to realize something is up, and try to nose in on her own. Just do it." 

Kousuke groaned, but couldn't fight that logic. Hiyono was rather like a terrier, with how she grabbed onto something and shook without letting go until all the information had fallen out. 

"She's right, Kousuke. It's only one day...let's try to preserve as much normalcy and recover while we have the chance. The moment we take off, we're going to need to remain focused," Eyes said, rubbing his thumb over the top of Kousuke's hand gently.

"I know, I know," Kousuke sighed. "I just hope the teacher doesn't decide to dump a pop quiz on me. I doubt I'd be able to concentrate enough to write anything sane." 

"You mean you normally do?" Rio asked, looking surprised. Normalcy was needed _now_, and the fastest way to do that was to tease the redhead. 

The nekojin gave her a glare, but it was blunted by his exhaustion. "Har de har har. Your obvious concern and sympathy is the absolute balm of my soul, Rio." he growled sarcastically. 

"Now now, Kousuke...do I need to get another bucket?" Riku teased, joining in with Rio. 

Kousuke whined and cringed. "Not more water..." he whimpered, and buried his face in Eyes's shoulder. "Protect me." 

"Of course." Eyes held him, though his embrace was a little tighter than normal. "That's enough for now. You can tease him well and good when he's had rest and is a little less cranky."

Kousuke looked up just enough from Eyes's shoulder to give him a mild glare as well. "Don't encourage them."

Eyes chuckled softly, his voice still shaky. "Forgive me. Rio, I leave you in charge until tomorrow." 

Rio nodded. "I'll have everything ready by the time you're fully rested." she promised.

He reached out and ruffled her hair. "I knew I could count on you." Now, with Kanone back in England, he didn't have to worry about who knew when Kousuke was sharing a bed with him. "Come on, Kousuke." 

Kousuke nodded, deciding to make a point of not noticing how Rio's smile brightened that much more and how Riku's own expression turned smug at Eyes's words. Right now, he didn't have the energy or the desire to know. "Lead the way, Eyes." _If you don't, I'm liable to walk into a wall.  
_

_Don't worry, I wouldn't let you. _He gave the girls a nod, despite their expressions, and led Kousuke to his room, very content with the thought of spending the next several hours tucked away under some blankets with the redhead at his side.


	18. Chapter 18

Title: The Epic

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 18/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Hiyono the mighty bullies her way into the rescue party!

A/N: Wai! Fanart today! Both Kyo-chan and Mikyu-san drew pretty pictures for this story! Thank you, Mikyu!! And thank you to everyone who's been reviewing!

Kyo-chan's picture: smg./albums/v720/rikkatsukiyono/?actionview¤tSpiralcolored.jpg;

Mikyu's picture: home.tele2.ch/sscans/sscans/Ayumu041.jpg

ooooo

Kousuke laid his head on his folded arms, telling himself over and over again that school was almost done for the day. He had gotten plenty of sleep, and was as recovered as he was going to be, but he still felt raw inside, and he kept fretting about the fact that he couldn't sense Ayumu anymore. He'd been nervous about the Web when they first got it, but now that it was gone, he would have given anything to have it back. And right now, he really wanted an aspirin and a pass to just leave. And maybe another hour's sleep. 

There was still time before the next class started, and the students around him were milling about, swapping homework and silly stories. No one seemed to notice the blur until it had whirled into the room, stopping before Kousuke's desk with a triumphant, "AHA!! THERE you are!" Sure enough, it was Hiyono. 

"Gah!" Kousuke yelped, startled out of his half-doze. "Antidisestablismentarianism! 42! Istanbul! I had nothing to do with that bus full of ducks and grape jelly! I didn't do it, no one saw me do it, you can't prove anythi--huh?" He blinked at Hiyono, finally back on this plane of reality. "Whuzza?" 

She stood over him with her hands on her hips. "It's about time I managed to find you! I've been looking for you for the last two days!" 

Kousuke just...blinked at her. It was a remarkably feline movement, especially since he also tilted his head just slightly, as if to say, "I have no idea what you're talking about, silly human." Then he sighed and lay back down on his desk, obviously thinking to ignore her. 

"Where's Ayumu?" she demanded, not about to let him go to sleep, not when he was one of her only links to the other boy when he seemed to vanish. 

"You mean he's finally escaped your clutches?" he murmured drowsily, "I congratulate him. Now Eyes and I can carry out our dastardly plans of seduction involving silk scarves and caramel topping." Distraction was good. He really needed to talk to Rio about her logic, though. Looks like the gray-haired girl had a rather sizable hole. Instead of Hiyono thinking Ayumu's disappearance had nothing to do with the Blade Children, she'd just gone right for the source, and Kousuke would have been one of the first to admit he had very little backbone with women. He could kill them if they were Hunters, but otherwise, he was in hot water if he couldn't distract Hiyono. 

"We'll see what Ayumu has to say about that! ...once you tell me where he is, of course." She crossed her arms. "I don't buy into Madoka's story about how he just had to get away and think, so yesterday, I stopped by just to be sure, and she showed me the note." Reaching into her pocket, Hiyono pulled out her little notebook, flipping a few pages and peering at something. "According to my notes, his handwriting was just enough different than normal that I realized that something was going on. Ayumu wouldn't just up and leave, he'd be too afraid that it would look like the same kind of disappearance as his brother. And since he's not with me, I can only reason that he'd be off doing something with--" She lowered her voice, leaning down so that she was looking right into Kousuke's face, snapping the little notebook shut. "--the Blade Children." 

_Well, crap._ "He's not with us." he said, figuring using half-truths was better than lying when it came to Hiyono. "And we haven't seen him either." _No, just felt every second of his agony as Kanone did _something_ that we can't figure out...  
_

Hiyono tilted her head at him, honey-dark eyes assessing him critically. "But you know where he is, don't you?" 

"Uh..." _Shit! Shitshitshitshit!  
_

Smiling, she seemed to look victorious. "I thought so! It's settled then! You'll take me to see Eyes Rutherford immediately after school, so that I can get the story in a much more comfortable setting." Reaching out, the blonde patted Kousuke's spiky hair. "I knew you'd have the answers, Kousuke. You're so helpful. See you after school!" With that, she bounded off to her next class so that she'd make it before the bell rang. 

"_Wha_?! But--I--HEY!!" Kousuke gaped after her, wondering once again how he kept getting into these situations when girls were around. He groaned and buried his face in his hands. Eyes was going to _murder_ him...

ooooo

Eyes sat on the floor, an open atlas in his lap, slender finger tracing over the lines. "Here..." he murmured. "Kanone is here." He tapped the location gently, then glanced up at the rather scratchy image of Jhette. "I would suggest landing somewhere very open and driving in the rest of the way." 

Riku looked up over the monitor of the laptop at the pale man. "I just barely made it into the air traffic network. Jhette should be able to download the data to give us a clean flight." 

"Rio, are we packed?" 

Rio nodded. "As packed as we can be. Jhette only has so much space in his hold, and really, how does one prepare for something like this besides try to think of every opportunity and leave the rest to luck? All we're waiting for now is Kousuke." 

"Make sure there are critical first aid supplies on board," Eyes said grimly, forcing himself not to shiver. "Just in case." 

Rio gave a grim smile. "Those were the first things I got." 

Jhette's image blinked. "A question. Why carry along first aid when one of our number has the potential to heal?" 

A confused shadow crossed over Eyes's face. His expressions had been a lot easier to come by since he still hadn't quite recovered from what had happened the day before. "I don't understand..." 

The mechanical Blade Child flickered, the brown eyes going blank as the functions turned from accurate picture to data retrieval. "Reference file #593 of Hunter Samantha, subject, Empathy. Main use, the projection and reception of emotions, especially when felt strongly by empath or target. Secondary uses include: Ability to spot a lie whenever spoken in an empath's presence, the ability to know if another living person is within a limited physical range, and the ability to take wounds of others onto oneself and then dispel them to heal one that is hurt. However, the last is considered dangerous, because even those with strong empathic gifts are drained quickly. Empathic healing is only to be used as a last resort, or if Hunter Samantha wishes to dispose of Subject Asazuki Kousuke for scientific data on empathic burnout." 

The Blade Child did shudder this time. "It's for that last reason alone that we are bringing first aid supplies. Kousuke has been through quite enough without burning him out from the inside as well." 

"Besides," Rio said, calmly slipping as many knives and miniature bombs onto her person as she could manage, "I don't think Kousuke knows he can do any of that stuff yet. _We_ certainly didn't." 

Jhette nodded. "A viable point. Do you wish that I make the data on various mental and physical Gifts into a separate file for future study? There is also one on something called 'shielding'." 

"Yes," Eyes said the moment he heard that. "It would be greatly appreciated." 

Riku stood up. "Coordinates ready for download, Jhette. All we need is for Kousuke to come home, and then we're set." 

Jhette's image flickered again as he did a quick sweep of the building and outside perimeter. "Subject Kousuke is currently within the entrance hall, heading for the elevator. However, there is another person with him, one I do not recognize. Female, about Riku's height, blonde and wearing the uniform for Kousuke's high school. Kousuke seems in some distress." 

With a heavy sigh, Eyes got to his feet. "Something told me we wouldn't make it out of the country without her knowing about it. Subject is Hiyono Yuizaki, a schoolmate of Kousuke's and one of Ayumu's information sources. She is permitted here." 

Rio rubbed her forehead. "Baka," she muttered, though whether it was to Kousuke for letting the girl bully him into bringing her here or herself for not thinking of this possibility, one couldn't be sure. 

"Understood. Then I shall unlock the elevator for her before she..._why_ is she hitting the doors with a teddy bear? Is this some customary tradition?" 

"For her it is," Eyes answered. "Yes, go ahead and open it." 

"Understood. Doors open and Subjects Kousuke and Yuizaki are approaching top floor. Kousuke still looks distressed." 

"He's probably worried we'll throttle him for not having a backbone around women." Rio replied. 

"Statement unclear. Medical records showed that Subject Asazuki Kousuke did in fact have a spine when--" 

"Never mind, Jhette."

"Is this girl going to be a problem, Rio?" Riku asked, looking quite ready to knock some heads together if she had to. One thing was for sure, she would certainly enjoy trying to beat the hell out of Kanone, especially since she'd held back the first time for Eyes. 

Rio sighed. "I don't know. She's not an enemy, if that's what you're worried about. Like Eyes said, she's a friend of Little Narumi's. She's the head of the school newspaper, and seems to live and breathe being a reporter. I'll give her this, though. Her information network is very close to perfect. And she tends to just keep badgering until she gets her way, if she doesn't just run right over you." 

That made the dark-haired girl smile. "You know, it's very possible that I could get to like this girl." 

Rio smiled back. "I rather like her too. For all that she's annoyingly persistent, she is brave and loyal. She drives Kousuke nuts, of course. But then, so does any strong-willed girl." 

The elevator dinged, the doors opening. 

Riku was snickering when the two of them walked in, and Eyes was checking over some last few things before they got ready to go. 

"You should have told me you were bringing a girl home, Kousuke. I would have made sure the place was tidied up a bit more," he said, closing the atlas and setting it on the table. 

Kousuke scowled. He looked more than a little worn, since he had spent most of the walk home arguing with the annoying chit, and then even attempting to run and lose her in the crowd. That hadn't worked either, much to his disgust. "It wasn't _my_ idea!" 

The grainy image of Jhette approached, staring with interest at Hiyono. This was the first normal human being he had ever seen, besides the Hunter and her assistants. Narumi Ayumu didn't count, since he was so tightly wound in with the Blade Children and Fate. He was understandably curious about this girl who walked so boldly into their domain. 

Hiyono squeaked a little at the strange apparition before her, almost wondering if she was looking straight at a real ghost. What a story that would have made! She leaned in a little closer to stare back, reaching out as if to touch him. When she didn't make contact, she pulled her hand back and put her hands on her hips. "I didn't know that Blade Children could be ghosts..." She tilted her head at Eyes and then waved. "Is that what he is?" 

Eyes shook his head. "It'll be a bit hard to explain..." 

"Negative," Jhette replied in that computerized breathy soprano of his. "Program Jhette is a computerized system created through the merging of a Blade Child and technology. What you see is a hologram. The Blade Child known as Jhette no longer truly exists." 

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "Yes you do. You're alive under all that hardware downstairs. You just can't say it because it's against what that bitch programmed you to say." 

Jhette gave the redhead a stern look. "That is incorrect. Program Jhette does not--" 

"Yeah, yeah," Kousuke sighed, too tired to really argue. "Whatever. It's nice to see you're operational again. Things getting fixed?" 

"Marginally. Due to the emergency status of the situation, I rushed the interactive software and merely put a patch on the data that has no relevance to this set of events. A more complete repair will commence later." 

"Hooray for our side. Hey, I don't suppose you'd be willing to toss a certain nosey reporter out the window..."

"HEY! I refuse to agree to defenestration! Not when none of you has told me what happened to Ayumu!" 

Eyes shot Kousuke a look with a raised silver brow. He knew that the redhead had a problem with willful women, but not being able to keep Hiyono off their case... well, he supposed that wasn't too big a stretch. She _was _rather persistent after all... 

Kousuke grimaced, his expression saying quite clearly that he knew he'd botched it, and that he fully expected Eyes to smack him for it at the first opportunity. "Look, I _tried_ to get rid of her. I even tried ditching her in the rush hour crowds!" 

"A ploy that was doomed to fail since your hair stands out quite well in a crowd!" Hiyono pointed out proudly. 

Riku snickered behind her hand. "In more ways than one," she said, deliberately poking fun at the wild spike of crimson. 

Rio nodded. "That's true. And there's also the fact that Kousuke can be a real wimp at times..." 

The nekojin's expression stated quite clearly that he felt he was being unfairly ganged up upon. 

Eyes went over to him and slung an arm around his neck. "But we'll forgive him for all of that. He's had a rough week. So, Miss Yuizaki, you're hunting for Little Narumi? I'm afraid you won't find him here." 

"Hmph. That's unexpected... Kousuke looked fairly guilty when I mentioned that he might have gotten mixed up with you guys again. I'm sure you know that he's missing, don't you, Rutherford-san?" 

Eyes nodded his head, unable to lie, even to the face of one who would most likely insist upon getting involved. "Yes, I do." 

Kousuke didn't feel all that much better with Eyes's comment, and started giving serious thought to dyeing his hair black and getting a goddamn buzz cut or something. 

_You'll do no such thing, or I'll go completely bald...and then think of all my angry fans...  
_

Kousuke actively cringed. _You're evil!  
_

Jhette was still looking Hiyono over, obviously fascinated by her. Being mostly computer, and one with several severe information gaps at that, he was recording just about everything his sensors picked up, because it was all so new. A person who had obviously _not_ been trained to fight from an early age! What a concept! 

"Excuse me...but why are you looking at me like that?" Hiyono questioned of Jhette, peering at him again, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be interrogating Eyes. "I know it's not because I'm a girl...there are already two here!" 

Jhette looked up at her, those featureless brown slit eyes gazing at her in what might have been wonder, if the picture was better and more detailed. "You are not a Blade Child. You are a normal human being. I have never seen one before." he said simply, and went back to studying her, the hologram walking in circles around her, wanting to get readings from every angle. 

Riku laughed softly. She knew that he had to have seen a real person sometime before Samantha had gotten him. Though his reaction to Hiyono was amusing, it did make her want to find a way to help him get back to normal. 

"So..." Hiyono said, watching as Jhette circled her before turning back to the others. "About Ayumu..." 

Jhette tilted his head. "You seem very concerned for Narumi Ayumu. Such concern is unusual, according to my data banks. Are you family? Or perhaps...what was the term...his woman?" 

Kousuke burst out laughing. Riku did too, doubling over as she did, she was laughing that hard. 

That brought a flush to Hiyono's cheeks, and even though she shook her head, the look on her face was evident enough that she had thought about it at least once. "No...I'm just... a friend..." She almost sounded doubtful. Even Hiyono wasn't sure what she was to the quiet brunette. 

"Trust me, Jhette," Kousuke gasped, "the only way she and Ayumu will end up in the same bed is if he takes a complete leave of his senses or if he's utterly drunk. Otherwise, there's no way he'd be that insane." 

Rio made a point of moving out of blast range. That was _not_ something said to the face of a hopeful lady. _Kousuke no baka...  
_

Eyes stepped back just in time to miss getting hit with a flying teddy bear. Hiyono's idea of a rampage certainly was an interesting one. "Little Narumi has been taken away for a ... visit with someone." 

The pummeling animals ceased at the sound of Ayumu's name. "Huh?" 

Kousuke could have just taken that respite as the opportunity to escape it was. He could have just left well enough alone. But he couldn't help himself, because while he may not stand up to women all that well outside life or death situations, he couldn't stop teasing them, either. It was just the way his personality was set up. "No wonder Ayumu never gives you a second glance. How can anyone respect stuffed animals as punches?" 

The next hit nearly got the bear shoved down his throat. Hiyono was still paying attention to Eyes, however... hadn't even looked as she landed the blow.  
Riku took that into consideration. "You know, she'd be pretty dangerous with the right training." 

"Ow...don't encourage her. She's psycho enough as it is." Kousuke growled. His _nose_ certainly respected Hiyono now, even if he personally didn't. Could that be the evil little emotion called gasp _jealousy_? _Naaaaah...  
_

Jhette tilted his head, obviously trying to gather what little information he understood about the current situation. "The Hope is not here. He is out of country, but not by choice. Supposedly, he is hurt." 

"WHAT?!" Hiyono's eyes were wide, her expression a cross between worry and annoyance that no one had bothered to inform _her_ of the situation. 

"Jhette is correct," Eyes added. "Little Narumi was taken out of the country by a rather...resentful Blade Child. We are about to go and get him." 

"Count me in!" 

"You can't be serious, Miss Yuizaki." 

"Request unreasonable." Jhette agreed. "Subject Yuizaki is no fighter, and the area we will enter is dangerous, full of hostile Blade Children. The chance of you sustaining injury or even death is 76.994 percent." 

Kousuke nodded. "The people there don't like that there's someone who can combat Fate, Hiyono. They have every reason to not want Ayumu rescued, and no reason at all to keep from killing us if we try. They're not gonna take it easy on you just because you're not one of us. You'll just slow us down." 

The stuffed animals were gone in a heartbeat, and she was staring at Kousuke looking like she wanted to slap him and was holding back. "You know, I'll bet that's what Ayumu first thought when he met me. You're telling me that there's a chance he could be hurt, that there are people out there that might still hurt him. I'm not going to just sit back and let you guys go off without me! What if something _does_ happen?! How do I find out? How will I be able to help then, hm? Don't underestimate me!" 

"How _would_ you be able to help, even if we took you?!" Kousuke shouted. He was tired, irritated, and worried. He'd had a rotten last couple weeks, and there was a good chance it was only going to get more so. His temper was understandably short. "What can _you_ do in a full battle, Yuizaki?! What you've seen up until now were puzzles! Mind games! Yes, they were dangerous, but there wasn't _anything_ resembling combat! Now we're going somewhere where the _least_ that'll happen is that someone will get shot at! As for what else, that all depends on the various talents of the Blade Children! And not even _we_ know what those are! Hells, I'm still learning about _myself_, and I already know I'm capable of taking out more people than you can imagine if I lose control! In a worst-case scenario, this could turn into a full-scale bloodbath! People _will_ die! What do you think _you_ can do that's of any use in something like that?! Interview corpses?! Once, just _once_, you should keep your goddamn nose out of our problems!" 

The blonde's cheeks were stained dark red, fists clenched at her sides. For a moment, it looked like she might turn and run, but she bristled and only stood straighter. "Your problems are _my _problems because they involve Ayumu! I know that you guys probably don't want to take me seriously, and I'd be willing to believe that sometimes, even _he _doesn't take me seriously! But Ayumu's the first person who didn't completely exclude me, even after I got his story! Whether he actually cares about me or not, I care about him, and if it's dangerous, I'm not going to let that get in the way of helping him! So I might be useless in a fight, I'm not stupid! Let me come with you! I wouldn't be able to stand waiting here wondering if anybody made it out alive or knowing that I'd have _no _way of finding him if you guys failed! I'm afraid of what might happen, but I'm afraid for Ayumu more! Please, let me come with you!" 

Kousuke glared at her, his eyes dark with anger and something unnamable. "You are so...RRRGH! Fine! If Eyes says you can go, so be it! Get yourself killed! See if I care when Ayumu ends up hating us because we took his one _normal_ friend into danger! I'm done with you!" He turned and stormed off to his room, muttering curses all the way. 

Rio sighed. "Don't be too angry at him, Hiyono. He's just as scared as you are." 

Hiyono sighed, the exhalation of breath more like a huff. "I...I'm not angry at him... I'm just..." She shook her head. "I want to help Ayumu. And as much hell as it looks like he and Rutherford-san have been through, I thought that more help would be good. I suppose...he's right. I'm probably not going to be much good, but I'll do what I can." 

"You're someone he trusts," Eyes spoke up. "I think that you need to be with us. But that doesn't mean that you aren't responsible for this choice. My permission being given for you to accompany us doesn't mean that I'm going to be accountable if something happens to you. Is that understood, Miss Yuizaki?" 

She nodded her head emphatically. "I understand." 

Nodding, Eyes uncrossed his arms and headed after Kousuke. "Rio, we're leaving in two hours. See that final preparations are made and that we accommodate Miss Yuizaki--" 

"Just call me Hiyono already!" 

"...Hiyono is ready to go when we are." 

Jhette, who had watched the whole thing with little to no comprehension, glanced at Rio. "Was that what is called a lover's spat?" 

"Oh, Jhette..." Rio sighed, then started laughing helplessly.

ooooo

Eyes lifted silver hair off the back of his neck, tugging it into a ponytail and tying it back. The whole time, his sapphire gaze was fixed on the wide landscape of the manor that he had once shared with Kanone. After his mother had passed, they had lived there together, and he'd eventually left it to Kanone while he started touring. For all intents and purposes, this was his home, and he had every right to come and go on the grounds as he pleased. That was why he was going in first.  
Some of the hair that wasn't long enough to reach the ponytail fell down to frame his porcelain features, making them look more fragile than when it was all down. He had told the others his plan, and he was sure it was the best one they had. That way if Jhette couldn't pull off a distraction big enough to get them all in, at least he would be inside and could find another way. 

Kousuke watched him, leaning against the hood of the dark green truck that comprised Jhette's body. His eyes were dark with worry, but he knew there was nothing he could do, no matter how much he disliked the idea of Eyes going in alone to face Kanone. This was the best way, and the only one that didn't involve massive amounts of body parts raining from the sky for weeks to come.

Eyes could feel Kousuke's gaze on him, and he turned to face his lover. He'd dressed up for Kanone, knowing exactly how much his image seemed to affect the other Blade Child, and he wanted to go in with a full impression. His traditional leather pants were topped by a black midriff, and his long, soft dark trench coat hid the katana that was sheathed against his back. The hair tied back from his face made him look indeed softer than normal, as if he'd dressed up in those clothes just for the appearance of being tough. It was a mask over a mask, and Eyes knew he couldn't fail. 

Kousuke took in the full effect, and while it was admittedly a very attractive image, it made Eyes appear fragile. He knew that was done on purpose, but Kousuke found himself hating it. He didn't like seeing Eyes look fragile, because it reminded him of just how much he had to lose if something unexpected happened. He looked up to meet Eyes's gaze again, his own green-gold orbs dark with worry. "You're sure about this?" he asked quietly. He knew the answer, of course, but he needed to actually hear it to remind himself that behind the seeming fragility, Eyes had a will as strong as steel. 

"Yes." Eyes's voice didn't destroy that memory. Even though it was soft, there was power behind it, like a blade gently blanketed by silk. He stepped up to Kousuke and reached up to touch his face. "I must face Kanone. As much as anyone else would like to take their shots at him, I have owed him this day for years. I am very sure." 

"I know...it's just...I..." The words weren't coming out. He was the one who had the most ease showing what he felt, and the words just would not come this time. So he reached forward, taking hold of Eyes's arms and pulling him into a fierce kiss. There was nothing of possession in it, because he knew that Eyes belonged to no one but himself. Instead, the redhead put every ounce of love he had into it, not caring that the others were there, watching, and could see it as he laid his heart bare. He loved Eyes, truly loved him, and that was why he was able to let Eyes have the freedom to do this, no matter how much he personally hated it. 

The kiss was returned with the same amount of intensity, understanding that there was no real possession behind it. He had nothing to fear of being owned from Kousuke. Everything they shared was on equal ground, and for that, Eyes was incredibly grateful. In return for the honest giving of emotions, the pianist gave back all that he could as well. He wasn't free...not just yet. _A little longer. I promise..  
_

It was enough. It had always been enough. And that was what proved that Kousuke truly did love him. He slowly pulled back, reaching up to stroke one pale cheek with calloused but gentle fingers. "Be careful..." he whispered. 

Eyes covered that hand with his own for a moment. "As always." When he pulled back, he looked at the rest of them. The girls had shown a surprising amount of restraint, actually still serious at this point, regardless of what they'd just seen. "Wait for me to give Kousuke the signal." 

Rio nodded. "One of these days, when we actually have a slow moment, you're going to have to explain in detail just what this connection is between you two and Little Narumi. Just sitting on the outside, it's like you're popping up with new abilities at random." 

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "Slow moment? Not possible." 

Rio shrugged. "True. We'll be waiting, Eyes. And if you get yourself hurt, I'll never forgive you. So be careful." 

He nodded, picking up the suitcase he'd packed with random clothes to make it look like he'd come "home". There were weapons in there, too, just in case, but that had been upon Riku's insistence. Never could be too careful, she had said. With that, he headed down to the manor.


	19. Chapter 19

Title: The Epic

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 19/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: Eyes and the other Blade Children make their way to Ayumu's rescue, but they're not quite prepared for what they find when they get there.

Notes: / flashback

ooooo

/ That place between early and late found Eyes Rutherford wide awake, gazing out the window at the velvety haze of sky and stars. This hour of the night and the silvery musician were constant companions of late, when stillness offered him time to think, to contemplate changing everything. When the rain started to fall, Eyes could no longer lay still with his thoughts, the pattering of wetness on the windowpanes, the soft earth, drew him up from the pillows. He cast his sapphire gaze down to the sleeping boy beside him, something in his eyes softening, betraying his turmoil. Then he was sliding carefully from beneath the covers, getting to his feet and drawing his discarded shirt off the floor to drape around his pale shoulders. When Kanone didn't stir, he moved silently to the balcony doors of their bedroom, pushing one open to move outside. The wind caught his hair, showered him with rainy kisses, and he didn't care about getting wet.

_I can't stay here_, he thought to himself for not the first time. He had spent his life in London at Kanone's side, learning what it was like to survive as he was. One of the Blade Children. Even now, just before his sixteenth birthday, Eyes knew how to kill, how to defend himself, and most importantly of all, what was predetermined for him. Memories of his mother were his vivid past, his father had paved his future, and Kanone very skillfully handled his here and now.

_"I want you to choose for yourself," _Anna Rutherford had told him so many times as they sat at her old piano, plucking chords from the ivory. _"Be who you want, do what you want with the time you have, Eyes." _He had thought that his choice was to be with Kanone, the only one that he could trust, until the time came for them to live out what was Fated for them. But as time went on, the Blade Child yearned for more. He wanted to see the world outside of London, know the existence of other people in his life beyond Kanone's steady hand. And what he ached for the most was to _live_. He wasn't 'living' here anymore, and he knew that if he followed Kanone, he wouldn't be allowed to live past a certain point. He hungered for a life unencumbered by destiny or a path that he didn't carve himself, in spite of all Kanone's training and guidance. Eyes knew that there was something wrong with that too, for the German boy that had grown up alongside him like a brother had once been too gentle to speak the commands he had Eyes follow, and much too kind to enforce them the way he did now. It made the pianist sad, for he loved and missed that part of Kanone that had seemed to disappear with age and an unwavering belief in the Fate of the Blade Children.

He also remembered another, Kiyotaka Narumi, the memory as vague as the man himself. Eyes had fallen sick, that was what the old Kanone had said, almost died. And Kiyotaka had been there when he'd woken up, smiling down at him in that mysterious way that seemed fitting for one such as him. _"I'm sorry, but it's not going to be me that stays the hand of Fate. But there is another…and he will do what I cannot if he proves himself strong enough."_ Eyes wanted to find that other, but Kanone wanted nothing of it, said that if Kiyotaka wasn't strong enough, then no one was. Fate was a Blade Child's only recourse, the purpose worth living for. For awhile, Eyes sadly believed it, even more so when Kanone started his training, but lately these precarious moments between darkness and dawn showed him another path. Surely he couldn't be the only one that wanted to live this life without the violence and bloodshed set before them. Could the hand of Fate really be stopped? He had to know, had to try…

"Eyes."

The musician tilted his head away from the sprawling landscape of the manor, looking over his shoulder. Argent hair was stuck to the sides of his face, and he had no chance of hiding the very slight hint of rebellion in his gaze before it melted away into something more pleasing. "Kanone…"

Kanone's lips turned into a slight frown as he stepped onto the balcony, displeased at finding Eyes awake, and standing in the rain no less. He reached out and tipped the other's chin a little more fully towards him, flicking strands of silver hair away from those fragile, amazing eyes. "What are you doing out here so late, Eyes?"

Eyes took an unsteady breath, strengthening his resolve, shoulders tense and ready for the consequences. "Thinking…" he murmured, then said the last thing that Kanone ever expected to hear. "I'm going to leave."/

ooooo

Kanone flipped a page in the book he was reading, enjoying the quiet. It had been rather busy since yesterday, just with getting Little Narumi patched up enough that he didn't die. The only healer they'd had was not terribly powerful, and Narumi had woken up in the middle of it and reacted in accordance with his programming against Blade Children. In other words, violently. The healer was still alive, but only barely. Kanone was actually rather pleased by this, even if it did mean they had to bring in a normal doctor from the Saviors. Ah, well...it was an imperfect universe. 

The empath that had come to see him when they had broken Ayumu appeared in the doorway to his study, giving a bow to be excused for interrupting what Kanone was doing. "Master Kanone?" 

Kanone looked up from the novel, raising an eyebrow. Usually, everyone knew not to disturb him when he was reading. "What is it, Justin?" 

"You have a visitor, and it looks like he has plans of staying for awhile." His expression was concerned and a little confused. 

Kanone blinked, putting down his book. "Oh? Who?" He couldn't think of anyone he was expecting. Even if it had been a new Blade Child that Hizumi wanted sent to him for some sort of special training, there would have been warning. 

"Eyes Rutherford." 

Kanone's eyes narrowed. "That's not funny, Justin." 

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Master." Justin waved his hand out in the hallway. "He's waiting to see you in the main hall." 

Kanone still looked doubtful, but he knew Justin had no cause to lie to him. So he got up and headed out to the main hall. Still, he was genuinely surprised when he did in fact find Eyes there. "Eyes? What are you doing home?" he asked, startled into a simple honest question for once. 

The man looked as if he'd walked through hell a bit before stopping home. His head was hung low, and when he looked up at Kanone's arrival, it was through his lashes and bangs rather than actually turning up his entire face. What little of those eyes he could see was clouded and sleepless. "I've come to stay... for good." The steel that had been in his voice before was gone, as if someone had taken something very vital from the life of it. Sure enough, a suitcase had been in hand, now sitting at Eyes's feet. 

Kanone blinked, and walked over to gently tilt that pale face up, looking at those clouded eyes with mild concern. "You haven't bee sleeping." he murmured, his behavior an echo of something from a softer time, long past. 

The old ache was there, a memory of something that could have been love if Kanone had not gone off the deep end. But that was carefully sealed with a thick, clear wall. Eyes could sense it, but he couldn't let himself be weak to it, not now. He made it a point not to meet those soft brown eyes. "...I can't. I'm so tired...but I can't. I can't fight it anymore, Kanone. He left us, and I can't feel him. He turned us away, and he took hope with him. I…don't want to fall to Fate alone." 

Now _that_ was interesting... "What about your compatriots? Where are they?" Kanone asked, though his biggest concern was with the whereabouts of a certain redhead. Still, if Eyes had left him behind, perhaps he'd finally have the opportunity to make sure the neko didn't make a second try. 

"They are what they've always been...rebellious and uncontrollable. They don't want to follow someone who doesn't want to fight it anymore." It was somewhat true. He couldn't imagine Rio or Riku surrendering like this, but Kanone expected to have some sort of control over Eyes, and it would only make sense that when everything fell apart, this would be the first and only home he would to want to return to. "So...I left them." 

A small thread of suspicion ran through Kanone's mind. "I'm honestly surprised they didn't kill you." _After all, that's what you would have done, if one of them had turned.  
_

A guilty smile came to Eyes's face. "Kousuke talked them out of it. I made him weak, didn't I?" 

Kanone tilted his head. "I told you, I never doubted the passionate heart of a cat. They love unconditionally. And love weakens. You knew this when you left here." 

"This is...the only place I belong now. I..." He bowed his head again. "After all that I've done to deny what you taught me, I don't deserve to come back to you. But...Little Narumi failed...Kiyotaka is gone. There's nothing left for me to believe in, except that which has always remained a constant in my life." He looked up again. "You."

Kanone slowly nodded, brushing light fingers against that pale face. "All right, then. Pick up your things and come inside."

"Kanone..." 

Eyes waited until the brunette had turned to lead him back inside. Instead of bending to pick up his luggage, he reached behind him, drawing his katana with a silken hiss. Baring it before him, the steel returned to his voice, eyes narrowed so that his gaze could very easily felt like the chill of ice between the brunette's shoulder blades. "It's hard to believe that once I could have loved you. It is within my limits to understand why you would choose to follow Fate. But it is not within the bounds of my forgiveness that you broke a _child_, trampled the very core of him just to appease a shaky destiny. Face me."

Kanone stopped, though he did not freeze. Unlike Asazuki, he did not temporarily shut down at unpleasant surprises. He did mentally kick himself for letting his guard down, however. "Little Narumi was a danger to our purpose, Eyes. I gave him the option of backing down on his own, but he refused. So I had to see to it that he complied, by whatever means necessary." He turned, his coffee-colored eyes once again hard. "And it was successful. Your 'Hope', as you call him, will never be able to bear the thought of being the savior of Blade Children ever again."

"Perhaps someday, I'll discover where the Kanone of my childhood disappeared to. You touched everything and everyone with an unrivaled gentleness. To know that you stained your hands so deep in all that you stood to make right once upon a time is helping me step away from what you held over me." Eyes was frigid, the hazy cold of his aura filling the room to a crisp chill. "I have always believed in free will. Whether or not Little Narumi chooses to be our savior, I will not let him be destroyed by you any further. Today, he leaves with me." 

Kanone's eyes became just as cold, meeting Eyes's glare unflinchingly. "The Kanone of your childhood died years ago. And if you insist on going against me, I will have no qualms with killing you as well. I have no use for a pet gone feral."

"Your biggest mistake was to consider me a pet in the first place. Draw, Kanone, let us see just how much stronger you have become." _Now, Kousuke._ Even his thoughts had the touch of ice. That strength that the redhead feared he'd lose seemed more solid than ever.

_Wotcher!_ Kousuke replied, a great deal of relief in his mind voice. He turned to the others, grinning. "Eyes is in. Jhette, go make some noise, would you?"

"Confirmed." The truck answered, and sped off. A few minutes later, there was the sound of a loud explosion, a huge billow of smoke, and crazily enough, lyrics.

"_I'M A COW, CAN'T YOU SEE, THAT I LIVE IN THE COUNTRY? MOOOOOO, I'M A COW!_"

Kousuke slapped his forehead and made a mental note to never sing in the shower ever again.

Riku let out a triumphant whoop, ready to go in. She had instructed Hiyono to stick with her, since she was an in-close combatant, and she could shield the girl better. Even the untrained young woman had made sure she was prepared. Instead of her usual ruffles and frills, she had on scuffed jeans and an old sweatshirt. Hiking sneakers replaced the girly dress shoes, which she had explained was a result of being on track, and her braids were undone, tied back in a no-nonsense ponytail. She did as she was told, following the other girl close as they went in.

Rio and Kousuke decided not to stick close, since four people might make too large a target. Even with most people running out to see what the hell was happening over Jhette's way, there would still be stragglers and those that decided to stay at their post "just in case".

Riku took a longer way through the fields, thinking to get in through a lower-level window. Prisoners were always kept in the basement, right? It was good logic. She didn't like the fact that she could smell Pack here, wondering just how many wolves were under Kanone's command...and why this place had the scent of a bloody hunt...

Kousuke decided to climb to one of the upper windows. Putting prisoners in a basement was most common, yes, but they were talking about Blade Children here, and Blade Children were sneaky. He waved at Rio and pointed to the upper floor, signaling that he was going to try and get up there. Mind, that meant shifting to nekojin form to get the added help of claws, and he really wasn't looking forward to the pain, but it was probably the fastest way.

Riku and Hiyono managed to discover a ground-level window that wasn't being guarded, and just as the older girl was about to kick the frame in, Hiyono tugged her shirt, pointing up. 

"Well, I'll be damned..." 

"How is Kousuke able to climb a wall?" the blonde wondered, staring up at where the redhead had begun his ascent. "And where did he get a tail?" 

"For a news reporter, you certainly aren't up on your current events. Come on, I'll explain later." 

Kousuke also had big red furry cat ears, and he proved that they worked when he turned to look at them and made a comical face at Hiyono before continuing his climb, reaching an upper window and peering in cautiously before trying to open it. 

Riku flashed him a thumbs-up sign and forced the window open with a good strong kick to the frame. She slid inside, and helped Hiyono in as well.

Kousuke pried the window open and climbed in, then pulled out the fine but strong chord that he'd brought from home and tossed one end down to Rio. When she grabbed it, he pulled her up, and they began the systematic search of the upper floors. 

Riku moved cautiously through the lower level, the scent of the pack getting closer as she went. There were several wounded, some of that blood she had been able to smell before quite obviously belonging to them. She felt sympathy for them, wondering what might have happened to hurt them. But she also knew the taint of rabid wolves as opposed to those in a sane pack. Making a motion for Hiyono to stay close, her steps became even more cautious. 

ooooo

Kanone chuckled, snapping his fingers. In a flash of pale orange light, a slender rapier appeared in his hand. "I have always considered you my dearest little pet. And really, does loving a pet or a person mean a difference in how much someone is loved? It's merely the quality of the relationship. The one who owns the pet gives what affection and attention he feels is appropriate, and the pet is dependant on the owner for that affection. After all…isn't that what you're doing with your own little kitten?"

"Do not twist my relationship with Kousuke into whatever it is you thought you felt for me. I am not like you at all, Kanone, and the fact that I never would have broken Little Narumi just to make him serve my goals proves that rather well. So, if you're finished talking..."

"At least I do not call a young man who is only a year younger than I a 'child'." Kanone replied, moving into an 'en garde' position. "That's hardly the way to think about Little Narumi, if you truly are so interested in adding him to your little harem." Kanone's tone was mocking. While it was an unlikely bet, it was still wise to at least attempt to enrage Eyes into carelessness. Kanone knew it probably wouldn't work, but it gave him a sort of angry satisfaction to see the rage flash in those sapphire eyes.

And there was indeed rage in those frigid blue depths, but Eyes knew that he couldn't afford to be reckless. Not even when Kanone was seriously pissing him off. "You assume far too much."

Kanone just smirked. "Do I? I found out quite a bit when I visited Asazuki on that last night, Eyes."

"It was also your fault that he collapsed, wasn't it, Kanone?" Eyes asked, gliding in to take the first strike.

Kanone parried it smoothly, making a strike of his own. "Well, yes. That's usually what happens when you remove a soul from its body. And I read a great many interesting things from that flickering crimson flame."

Eyes ignored the obvious bait for the moment, concentrating instead on the fight. Even if Kanone hadn't always been strong, they were both skilled in the art of swordplay, and neither of them ever had the luxury of taking each other lightly.

Kanone was indeed far stronger than he used to be, his attacks having a great deal of force. But he also knew that Eyes had always been just slightly faster, so there was still a danger. His eyes never left the silver-haired man. 

ooooo

Kousuke and Rio crept through the upper halls, checking each room. They had an unspoken agreement to total silence, even if there was currently no one in the house besides a very skeleton security crew. They wanted to do this as quickly as possible. Though, as they checked room after room, Kousuke was beginning to think that Murphy's Law was in effect, and thus Ayumu would be in the very _last_ room checked. 

Riku considered herself and Hiyono very lucky that they managed to slip past the room in the basement that housed the pack, and they quickly and efficiently searched the rooms downstairs. Turning up nothing, Riku led them upstairs. As she passed through the hallway, she could hear the sounds of swordfight. Silently wishing Eyes luck, she sought out Kousuke to team up with him now that they were inside. 

Kousuke and Rio met them on the second floor, waving instead of saying anything. Just because they hadn't met any opposition yet didn't mean there wasn't any to meet. Not if the explosions and yelling that could be heard from outside were any indication. Kousuke absently wondered just what Jhette was doing out there to make those odd fizzing noises. 

Riku kept her senses alert even as she started poking through doors. The opposition that they had been expecting came in the form of two very tall Blade Children who happened to be guarding the room she'd just opened. Hiyono covered her mouth the muffle a cry of surprise as one of them took a swing at Riku. With a grin on her face, the dark-haired young woman cracked her knuckles, ducking the attempted blow and swinging back. 

Kousuke and Rio took on the other one together. Someone _that_ big wasn't to be underestimated. Kousuke pulled the knives he'd hidden in his sleeves out, all business. If Hiyono didn't like it, she could close her eyes. 

Much to anyone's surprise, she kept her gaze on it all, this entire experience a learning process for her. Maybe she didn't' quite understand what they went through or what kind of danger they were in, but if she had gone through the trouble to help save Ayumu, she wouldn't hold back. 

Riku's hands were bloody before long, her eyes now a golden color as she quite literally beat down the Oni Blade Child that had taken the first swing at her. She was vicious at hand-to-hand combat, and she too was making no secret of how serious she was about surviving. 

Kousuke and Rio were just as vicious in their own way. Rio had pulled out her little pistol and shot out both the Oni's legs. As he fell, Kousuke took the opening to leap onto their attacker's shoulders and drive his dagger into the tall man's skull, spraying blood all over his hands and jacket. 

Hiyono flinched, feeling as if her own hands burn when the blood spilled. Something prickled at the base of her skull, as if there was something she should be doing, but she knew she had no place here. There was nothing she could do when the other three seemed to know how to handle themselves. 

Riku rose up from the body of the fallen Oni. "That was unnecessary. We just dropped in for a visit..." 

"Tell me about it. Whatever happened to greeting people at the door with a smile and a box of Twinkies?" Kousuke replied, grinning at her. 

Rio rolled her eyes. "That's an American holiday, baka." 

"Yeah, yeah..." the redhead muttered, peeling off his formerly green jacket and using it to wipe off his hands."And thus another outfit bites the dust, ne Riku?" 

She slid out of the sweatshirt she'd been wearing, under which there was a halter top. "Good thing I didn't like the color of that one much." She grinned and then turned to Hiyono. "You okay? We warned you that this wasn't going to be pretty." 

"I...I'm fine. Let's just find Ayumu." 

"Well, I'm thinking that those big guys were here to guard something, let's have a look around, shall we?" 

"Kousuke can do that." Rio said, and gave Riku's appearance a significant look. "You need to wipe off your hands, at least. You might scare Little Narumi if the first thing he sees is you all bloody. Kousuke, can you--Kousuke!" 

The redhead had sunk to his knees, suddenly very pale, but he forced himself back to his feet and shook his head. "I'm okay," he growled softly. "It's just...I just found out the answer to my question about whether I'd be able to kill while having an empathic ability. It...takes some getting used to, is all. I'll be fine." 

Rio looked unconvinced, but knew better than to argue when he had that particular stubborn set to his mouth. "Okay...would you take a look around while I help Riku clean herself up some?" 

Kousuke sighed melodramatically. "And thus I'm left to slave away all alone..." He looked around, but the door they'd opened just led into a tiny room with a chair, a desk, and a bookshelf. What was so special about that? He huffed, walking farther into the tiny room, wondering if they'd just accidentally wandered in on two guys who took exception to having their reading interrupted. 

Deadly exception. _Riiiiight.  
_

Still, nothing seemed out of place...until he got to the bookshelf, and smelled the scent of blood and satsuma. 

It was as he neared it that his sensitive hearing picked up the sound of labored breathing, joining the out of place smells. Hiyono had followed behind him, led not only by her own curiosity, but by the tingling in her hands. After the two Oni had gone down for good, that burning sensation had receded, yet hadn't completely gone away. Now that she was behind Kousuke, it was as if it were getting stronger again. 

Kousuke stepped back, glaring at the bookcase. The scents and sounds were coming from behind it, so there was probably a hidden door. He ignored the aching of his abused empathy, forcing his mind to work. Where would the catch be...? "Yuizaki, it looks like you're gonna be some help after all. Help me find out what triggers the door." 

"Right!" She ran her hands along the shelves and book titles. How would Ayumu figure it out...? Surely there had to be some sort of logic to it.. She wondered if it was maybe like those moves where the wall rotated into another room, so she pushed on one side of it to see if it had give. It did, but only a little before there was the familiar rattling sound of a lock. 

Kousuke glared at it. "Wonderful. Somewhere in this room, there's a hidden catch. If it's got a keyhole, we're going to be screwed." He was tempted to just burn the damn thing down, but...what if he hurt Ayumu? _You're getting soft, Asazuki...  
_

Hiyono stepped back and looked at it a moment. "A key would take too much time if whatever's behind it was important. There has to be a more technological way of locking and unlocking it..." She ran her hand along some of the book spines again. "Check the desk..." 

Kousuke nodded and went to do that, checking the drawers and their contents thoroughly. At the back of one of the tiny side drawers, he found a button. "Gotcha..." he murmured. However, feeling mildly paranoid considering this was Kanone's home, he used a pencil to push it. Sure enough a needle that was most likely poisoned spiked the writing utensil. However, the lock on the hidden door gave a loud click. 

"Nice work, Kousuke!" Hiyono praised, turning to press herself against the bookcase again. It began to move with her weight, grinding against the floor.  
Riku and Rio joined them, the taller of the two tipping her head and sniffing the air. "What did you find?" 

"Secret door. And a now very sick pencil." Kousuke answered, tossing the stabbed piece of wood over his shoulder as he walked over to help Hiyono shove the door open. "Isn't this the sort of thing that you find in those really bad horror movies? Like Frankenstein?" 

"I certainly hope that's not what's on the other side of this thing..." 

When it wouldn't budge anymore, Hiyono stepped inside, though it would be noticed that she moved much more cautiously than she did when they first arrived.  
The room there were in had been painted a soft blue in color, making it appear both small and cozy, but with the slight suggestion that one shouldn't stay too long, lest they feel the underlying chill. There were two chairs near the window, and one table between them that housed a pitcher of water and a single purple iris. On the far side of the room was a very simple futon. It was what was on the futon that was far less than simple... 

Kousuke let out a surprised hiss at the still form on the floor, and ran over to kneel down next to him. "Ayumu..." 

The boy lay on his stomach to accommodate the almost shielding spread of white, feathered wings. The image might have been breathtaking, were it not for the obvious abused way that they curved, the bits of dried blood that the medics hadn't been able to clean or had simply missed altogether. Ayumu had been bandaged in one way or another nearly from throat to ankle, some of them tinted a very light shade of pink, indicating that some of the wounds were very fresh and would need more tending soon. The flush of his cheeks spoke of a fever that had just barely been broken before it became dangerous, the half naked form trembling slightly as he breathed. One arm was tucked under his head, the other curled into the bedding on the futon as if he clung to something for dear life. 

"A-Ayumu..." Hiyono whimpered, the burning almost a tangible thing, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. 

Riku shook her head, hanging it sadly. "So _he _was what they were hunting. That fucking Kanone..." 

"What do you mean, Riku?" Rio whispered, unable to make her voice work any louder. She may have seen death and violence in many forms throughout her life, but seeing them on Ayumu seemed criminal.

Riku turned to her with the gold still mostly dominant in her eyes and looked a little guilty. It was obvious she had been hiding a detail about herself until she was sure she was welcome and trusted. "There are Blade Children here that were born from Okamijin; I sensed them when we went through the field. It seemed like there was some sort of hunt, and...I think...Ayumu was what they were hunting." 

Kousuke bit his lip, and tried to touch Ayumu's mind with his empathy, thinking to merely soothe what were obviously bad dreams.

Ayumu shifted slightly, letting out a soft protesting sound in a whimper. What Kousuke touched, if he tread carefully, was not merely a strain of bad dreams, but the chaotic flutter of a mind that had been torn through with psychic force. The resulting fear and anger was a heady thing, the two most prominent emotions Ayumu could seem to feel. Something a little deeper seemed twisted, like a slightly off-centre shadow on his mind. 

_That...can't be natural..._ Kousuke then made the beginner's mistake of trying to probe deeper without first setting up any sort of mental defense. 

The moment he touched upon that darkness, it backlashed with enough force to take down any tampering without mercy. It triggered the emotions and fears with a kick-start, making Ayumu's body jerk, his nails heard clawing at the bedding. "Stop...!" he gasped, the sound of his voice a cross between a demand and a plea. 

Kousuke gave a cry as his own mind was promptly blasted back into his own head, and toppled over, clutching at his skull, trying to get the pain to stop. And once he was able to think about it, trying to get the pain to stop from reaching Eyes, who was still probably in the middle of dealing with Kanone. 

"Kousuke! What did you do?" Rio gasped, running over to help him sit up and looking worriedly at the brunette he'd been kneeling beside. 

Riku sighed. "He probably tried to get into Narumi-kun's head..." She watched as Hiyono slowly approached to take Kousuke's place. The girl had been acting strangely since they'd fought the Oni, and she wondered if she would be all right. 

Hiyono was trying to rationalize why she felt she had to be so close. She was afraid to touch Ayumu, afraid that she'd hurt him, but all of her instincts were telling her that he needed her...that she needed to do something. Her pale brown eyes were wide as she hesitantly reached out to touch one fragile, broken wing. 

Kousuke watched her, ignoring the pounding in his head. Despite the pain, his empathy could feel something from her that he didn't quite understand. It was almost like the heaviness in the air before a huge thunderstorm. 

By now, all of their eyes were on her, both in confusion and a little wariness. After all that had happened, they had every right to look at everything that touched their damaged Hope with suspicion, even the one that claimed to be his friend.  
Hiyono didn't seem to notice their scrutiny as much as she noticed how soft the feathers were under her hand, and when she smoothed her palm over them, a ripple of ache went through her. Wincing, she pressed a hand to her chest. Somehow, she knew that she wasn't feeling her own pain, but rather Ayumu's, and she didn't understand. All she wanted to do was make it go away...go away... 

A soft ivory glow spread out from her fingertips. 

Rio's eyes went wide at the glow, and she almost pulled Hiyono away, except that

Kousuke grabbed her arm to stop her. "Don't," he whispered, "I think she needs to do this." 

Riku had been about to stop Rio as well, sensing no real danger from Hiyono, and if there had been any signs of it, she would have torn the other girl back long before now. 

The blonde's face went slack, eyes now half-lidded. Her other hand moved away from her chest to join the first in petting the soft down of Ayumu's wings. The glow enveloped them, making the gold flecks shimmer before they were blanketed by white energy. When Hiyono's hands dropped away, Ayumu shifted slightly, the wings stretching out to their full length, fully healed. 

"...whoa..." Riku murmured. "They're so...beautiful..." So this was what Hope looked like... 

Kousuke looked at the whole picture, and gave a lopsided smile. "I don't know where the hell they came from, but the wings suit him." 

Rio nodded. "Should we wake him? It would be easier for us all if he could walk out of here under his own power. 

Kousuke wondered. He really hoped that if they did wake Ayumu up, he didn't get blasted again. That had not been pleasant. 

After a moment, the wings tucked against Ayumu's back, then vanished altogether with a slight rush of air. Hiyono blinked. "Wh-what just happened?" 

Kousuke raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember? You did some sort of glowy-thingy with your hands, and the wings got fixed up. Then they went poof." He looked contemplatively at the small mound of gold-flecked feathers left behind. "Hm...I wonder if these would make good pillow stuffings..." 

"Kousuke!" Rio admonished. 

"Hey, come on! I don't get paid that much! Even a free pillow is welcome!" 

"Worry about it later, guys. We're damn lucky that we haven't been discovered yet. We've got to get Ayumu out of here and still get Rutherford-san away from asshole downstairs." Riku approached Hiyono and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Yuizaki-chan, you did a very good thing for Ayumu, so don't let Kousuke bully you about getting in the way again, okay?" 

Hiyono giggled softly, wondering why she felt so tired, but she nodded. 

A soft groan came from Ayumu, and he shifted again on the futon, brows furrowing as he was roused from unconsciousness. Kousuke began to feel that shields would be necessary, because the closer to awake the boy became, the more wild and chaotic his emotions felt. He was scared... being conscious meant being fully aware that he was in danger. 

Kousuke scrambled to get them up, layering them as thick as he could. And he was perhaps the only one expecting the reaction they got when Ayumu opened his eyes to see three Blade Children within a foot of him. Worse, they were ones he knew, ones that the little voice in his head insisted would eventually betray him. Especially ones like the redhead, who had expressed interest in more than friendship. 

A growl rose up in that slender throat as he pushed up to his hands, eyes narrowed and hard as he took in what surrounded him. The look on his face promised he wouldn't just idly sit back if one of them got too close. It was very much the same face he had when the pack had tried to take him on, and he was not going down without a fight. 

It was also, Kousuke noted with a great deal of trepidation, not entirely sane. "Rio, Riku, Hiyono...everyone take a giant step back." Kousuke had only just noticed, but...there was dried blood under Ayumu's nails. And it wasn't his. 

Riku immediately did as she was told, knowing that if he caught even the slightest notion that she was as canine as his predators, she would be one of the first he'd go after, just on sheer principle. 

Hiyono was a little more hesitant. "A-Ayumu..." She scooted away a little, but he had to recognize _something_ besides all this anger and insanity. 

It was almost eerie the way he slowly turned his head to look at her. He had to take a good minute to properly focus on her and realize who she was. "Hiyono..." he murmured, voice raw underneath the whisper.

Hiyono broke out into one of her sparkling-wide smiles the moment Ayumu acknowledged her there. "The one and only!" she stated proudly, getting the impression that the more she acted normal, the calmer it might make him. "I'm here to take you home!" 

Ayumu processed that, watching her the whole time as if he knew there was more going on under that carefree exterior she had put on for him. "So why are you with them?" His tone when he indicated the Blade Children had such an edge to it that it almost felt tangibly sharp when he spoke of them. 

A laugh bubbled up from Hiyono's throat, but it was more nerves than real humor. She wondered how exactly even the brilliant Eyes was going to get Ayumu back to Japan if he didn't seem to trust the lot of them anymore. There was little she could do without them and she knew it. "Don't be silly, Ayumu! Do you really think I could have made it out of the country on my own? I don't even have a passport! Besides, they wanted to help you too! We're so glad you're all right!" She made a bold move, going forward again to carefully embrace the cautious boy. Her hold was gentle, both so that she wouldn't hurt him and so that he could get free if he wanted. 

Ayumu flinched in her arms, but he didn't pull away. Nor did he return the embrace. Over her shoulder, he still looked rather viciously at the three Blade Children. Most particularly, the images of Eyes and Kousuke doing as they pleased were still very fresh in his mind, and the redhead got a look that promised Not Good things if he got too close. He could allow himself to go along with things so long as Hiyono stood as buffer, but there were no promises for when she wasn't there. 

Kousuke shuddered, and the press of Ayumu's emotions was so heavy on him that he had to look away, unable to meet those accusing golden eyes. The anger, the fear, and the hatred in Ayumu's heart burned against him, even through the shields he'd put up, only it was worse this time. Before, the emotions had been strong, but vague and without focus. Now, however, they had found their focus, and all of those negative emotions were stronger for it. The anger and fear had settled like a funeral pall to cover all Blade Children, which was bad enough when he was the only one who had a chance of saving them from Fate, but the hatred had sharpened until it was almost a weapon on its own, and it was directed at Kousuke. Already aching from feeling the death of the two guards and getting struck while not shielded, the force of Ayumu's irrational hatred burned like acid on Kousuke's mind, his shields suddenly seeming as flimsy as rice paper. 

Rio felt her own worry grow as all color bled from Kousuke's face and he turned away and she saw the slightest flickers of malicious satisfaction in Ayumu's eyes. Before today, 'malice' was not a word she could have ever applied to the brunette. But now the word seemed to embody his existence, as he looked at the three of them as if they were something horrible that he'd rather see dead than find anywhere near him. It was terrifying to think about, and it took Rio a moment to find her voice. "Little Narumi…" she whispered, then cleared her throat and tried again, forcing herself to speak normally. "Little Narumi, can you walk? It'll be easier if Kousuke doesn't have to carry you out." 

Kousuke glanced at her, suddenly apprehensive. He didn't think Ayumu would submit peacefully to being carried by him right now. In fact, the redhead had a sinking suspicion that the brunette would most likely grab at one of the various knives hidden on his person and attempt to slit his throat if he even tried. 

"I can walk on my own," Ayumu insisted, never mind that he wasn't entirely sure he could. It just seemed the better alternative to being carried, especially since it would likely be Asazuki that would have to do it. "Hiyono, help me up." 

"Sure!" 

Hiyono grabbed the blanket that had been kicked to the foot of the futon, releasing Ayumu so that she could wrap it around his body, saving him some dignity. Then she carefully helped him to his feet. It took a few moments of struggling, Ayumu's body uncooperative thanks to the wounds he'd sustained and his exhaustion. Even when he was upright, it was obvious that he was leaning heavily against the girl, but she didn't seem to mind, arm tight around his waist.

Riku picked up the slightly nervous undertone before her ready enthusiasm, and she glanced over at Kousuke, thinking that he might have noticed as well. Things were very very wrong, and it made her want to barge right downstairs and put a knife in Kanone's back. She walked over to the redhead and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. 

Kousuke gave Riku a wan little smile, the best he could do, and even that was obviously forced. The situation was now even more complicated. What would happen to them all now, he wondered, with Ayumu being so hostile towards even those that wanted to help him? 

_We've found Ayumu, Eyes. We're going to get outside and meet up at the rendezvous point with Jhette. Do me a favor and give that fucking bastard you're fighting a couple of really BIG scars._

_I'm...working on that..._ Eyes felt sore and his skin tingled with sweat. He'd shed his trench coat long before, trading blows with Kanone in an intricate dance of force that would be dangerous to anyone who got close. He was fixed on the battle, not willing to lose to the other Blade Child, not now. The clang of their swords was a deadly musical chord, echoing throughout the main hallway along with their labored breathing. 

Kanone's breathing was just as heavy, and he grinned ferally. "You've gotten better, Eyes." 

Eyes managed a grim smile of his own. "You're not so bad yourself. I remember when you couldn't keep your hands on your own hilt." He danced away from the first swing and parried the second one. He might have actually enjoyed this if the situation weren't so dire. He hadn't been challenged like this in a very long time. 

"That was around the same time as losing both my pride and my dignity to the peanut butter jar, I believe." Kanone replied, moving smoothly out of the parry and taking a lunge, making a swipe across Eyes's face. It was only a shallow cut to the cheek, but it was still a hit. "First blood goes to me." 

It stung, and Eyes spared himself only a brief second to think about how close that swing had come to taking his head. "A very skillful move, Kanone. I commend you." The wound only fueled him to fight that much harder, his steps like a whirlwind as he launched himself into a kata move, aiming the blade for Kanone's midsection. 

Kanone moved instinctively to parry it, but the katana was a far heavier sword than the slender rapier. The blade snapped the sword in two, but was still diverted just enough that Eyes only got a light graze along the midsection. He stepped back, glancing down at the light wound in annoyance. "Drat. I rather liked this shirt..." 

"Without a weapon, this match is over. Consider yourself rid of me, Kanone. The power that you had over me no longer exists, and my real home is far from here." He stepped back. 

Kanone was outwardly calm, but his eyes were hard. "For now. I shall probably appear for a rematch at some point." He glanced out the window, as if hearing the din from Jhette for the first time. "A diversion? Clever. But even if you take Little Narumi back with you, he will never become part of the Web again, and all of you will eventually fall to fate." 

"Once more, you don't listen to what I tell you. Whether or not Little Narumi becomes our Hope once more is irrelevant. He does not belong here with you or those that you have chosen to associate with." Eyes didn't dare turn his back, taking graceful steps to the side to retrieve his coat, slinging it over one arm. Like the fighter he was, he kept the sword drawn until he had made it to the door. "Farewell, Kanone." 

Kanone nodded. "Farewell, Eyes. Do give my regards to the infamous Huntress Cassandra, when she finally finds your little group. I will not help you against her, now." 

Eyes paused at the door and gave a very dark smile. It almost didn't belong on his face, but it proved that he was not as pure and innocent as he looked. "I have seen the truth of what you are, Kanone. The only way you would have helped me is if I would have let you fuck me. I was only a pet after all." With that, he was left, threatening bloody damage to anyone that got between him and the rendezvous point. 

Finding the rendezvous point was easy. He just had to follow the trail of burnt landscape and corpses. Kousuke had decided that the quickest way to both get rid of the opposition and take his mind off the dark cloud of emotions he was picking up from Ayumu was to just go nuts with the fire and clear a path. And if anyone was dumb enough to try and stop them...oh well. By the time they met up with Jhette, Kousuke was exhausted, but thought he might have gotten the hang of shielding himself from people who were dying. Trial and error was a wonderful process...at least that was what he kept telling himself as he leaned against the hood of the jeep and tried to catch his breath. 

Ayumu had been settled into the back of the truck, pressed against the door, while Hiyono had been strategically been placed between him and Rio. Riku had chosen to put even more distance between herself and Ayumu by sitting in the driver's seat, lest Ayumu catch on what she was and things got even uglier than they already were. She caught sight of Eyes while Kousuke was catching his breath. 

"Hey, he made it!" There was a smile in her voice, even though it was tired.  
Eyes looked less like the pampered musician at this point, and more like some kind of warrior spirit. The hair that had been tied back had somewhat come undone, framing his face in no particular pattern or curtain. Crimson painted the side of his face, almost looking tribal and exotic on his white skin. With the black leather and the naked blade still in his hand he looked very different than most were used to seeing him. 

Kousuke looked up from where he was slumped, and gave the silver-haired Blade Child an admiring look and a tired smile. "You know, for all that I don't like it when you get into enough trouble to bleed, you look a hell of a lot better than you did an hour ago. I prefer fierce to fragile." 

Eyes's smile was grim. "I should have figured you would think so." He finally sheathed his sword and went over to lay his head on Kousuke's shoulder. "But this fierce one is tired..." 

Kousuke wrapped his arms around Eyes, burying his face in the silver silk. "We all are, Eyes." he sighed, relaxing now that his beloved was safely back in his arms. The only sign that there were still things on his mind was the slightly anxious twitch of the crimson tail behind him and how his ears stayed perked and alert, even as the shoulders slumped. 

_How is Little Narumi?_ He lifted his gaze without moving his body, peering into the truck to see the boy staring out the window with an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes still had a wild quality to them, but not as much as they had at first. He would be all right as long as he could watch the outside and try to ignore those that were in close proximity of him. 

Even the mention of that brought a shudder to Kousuke's too-thin frame. Instead of saying anything, he used his empathy to share just the slightest fraction of what Ayumu had been sending his way ever since they'd found him. It was exhausting him just to try and keep it blocked out, it was so strong, and thus he had to be careful just how much of it to pass to Eyes. 

Eye's head tucked a little further into Kousuke's neck. _I was afraid that would be the case. Kanone said that he would no longer choose to save the Blade Children. And now we know how that is possible._ He clung to the redhead, wishing they could have known what was going on sooner, prevented Kanone from taking Ayumu away from them. 

_Tell me about it. Just make sure you're shielded when you get close. There's something..._off_ about his mind when one of us gets too close to him. I only see it as a sort of wrongness, but if it has to do with the mind instead of the heart, you'll probably catch whatever it is full in the teeth._ He sighed, pulling away just enough to inspect the cut on Eyes's finely-boned face. _As for Kanone, I'll just chalk this up with all the other things I owe him a beating for. Or maybe I'll just send this address and a picture of your cut to all your fans and let _them_ do the work. I'm feeling sadistic enough...  
_

_That might be crazy enough to work..._ He closed his eyes and let Kousuke turn his head to look at the wound. It didn't hurt anymore; in fact he'd forgotten about it until Kousuke had brought it up again. _Perhaps I shouldn't lower my shields around him, not until he's at least back home.  
_

_Be careful with that. It's bad enough to feel the hatred. I can't imagine hearing it in words inside your head being any better. _Kousuke leaned down, beginning to gently lap at the cut, the nekojin instincts insisting that he clean the hurts of his Mate before doing anything else. 

Eyes made a startled sound at the damp flicker against his skin, suppressing a shiver at the roughened sensation. It almost tickled, and he let out a soft sigh a moment later. He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy it, the more primal instinct new to him, but definitely appealing to the vulpine side of him. _Kousuke...we're being watched...  
_

Sure enough, Riku's grin could be felt even from the inside the truck. 

_I don't care. You're more important._ Kousuke had the oddest notion that there should be something else about that cut, but he had no idea what that could be. In the end, he just shrugged mental shoulders and ran with it, letting his intuition and instincts lead him. He reached out, both with a gentle hand and with his empathy, but instead of using his powers to give something, he was using it to take, letting his will and his Gift sink into Eyes's skin. It was not easy by any stretch. If anything, it was probably the most difficult mental and physical exercise Kousuke had ever attempted in his life, but he was stubborn and kept at it, wanting to see where this would all lead. Slowly, the cut faded away, and the redhead felt a sharp sting, then wet warmth as it reappeared on his own face, and then slowly faded away, leaving nothing but a smear of red against one high cheekbone. 

Eyes blinked out of the warm, hazy feeling looking at the smear on Kousuke's cheek with confusion. He reached up to touch his own face, feeling that the cut was no longer there. _What...did you just do...?  
_

Riku's giggle had roused Ayumu out of his distant thoughts, since there was very little to be found funny in this entire situation. What he saw made him press his lips together tighter. Rutherford and Asazuki. They made such a perfectly ...cruel couple, showing such tender affection to each other, but taking no real consideration about his own feelings. They had expected him to be so close to them, even wanted him to be a part of this...thing they had together. He had been made to realize that had he made the mistake of going that far, he would have been hurt even more. He hated their contradictory actions. His hands curled in the blanket that was wrapped around him, body tense as he forced himself to sit still. 

Kousuke shrugged, even more tired than before, but satisfied with himself. _Dunno. I just felt there was more I could do, so I did it. But since you're no longer sporting a cut that would doom Kanone to death by fangirls, I'm guessing I healed you somehow. I swear this whole empathy thing gets weirder every day. _Kousuke didn't seem to notice the blood on his own face, probably because it had been a normal occurrence during certain periods of his life. He was a little too jaded to think of it as that big a deal. 

_I'm stuck into thinking that our lives just get weirder every day. I want to go home._ He almost pouted when he said it, giving a look over his shoulder in the direction that he came from. 

_Me too. Let's get in the truck and go, then. We've got a long and very tense flight ahead of us._ He leaned down to brush a light kiss against pale lips before finally letting Eyes go and reached up to wipe the blood off his face. He didn't want to give Ayumu any ideas in his current state. 

Meanwhile, while the angry little voice in Ayumu's head whispered of betrayal and revenge and killing, another deeper part of him questioned the need to have even more blood on his hands. He'd already killed, why not again...? 

He turned his head away with a snap, squeezing his eyes shut. Being at war within himself was a hard thing to keep to himself. A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, and he was infinitely glad that he hadn't eaten in a few days. The clench of his throat at the thought of how he'd cut down actual living things making him almost violently nauseous. In opposition, the darker thoughts reasoned that he'd done what needed to be done in order to survive. Even if he didn't like the circumstances, he could go home to Madoka and try to forget what had happened to him, go back to living life as it had been. He didn't have a connection to the Blade Children anymore; he saw no reason to continue disrupting his life with them. 

The softer side argued that Madoka would be so unhappy if she knew, and how it wasn't fair to condemn four Blade Children who had come to his rescue, even bringing Hiyono. They hadn't done anything to him, they whispered. 

Yet, sneered the darker voice. It was all a matter of time... 

Ayumu sank lower in his seat, almost wishing he were still unconscious. As much as he appreciated his way of thinking normally, he wanted to turn his mind off now. It didn't seem to know which direction it wanted to go, which only reminded him of all the things he'd been through, all that he'd seen and done. He just wanted to forget.. 

He was distracted as Kousuke opened the truck door and climbed into the seat in front of Ayumu, scooting over enough to give Eyes room as well. "Home, Jeeves!" he said in his best impersonation of the wealthy British. 

"Identification does not match. Subject 'Jeeves' does not match any file in my current databanks." 

Kousuke sighed and slumped. "Never mind! Jeez, we have _gotta_ figure out how to unlock some of your memories. You don't get any of the jokes." 

"Negative. There is no joke, there is only Zool." 

Kousuke gaped at the dashboard while Rio smothered a giggle.

Eyes wasn't too proud to slump against Kousuke as they settled into the truck. The next several hours were going to be tense, and he only hoped that things would stay civil enough for him to take a nap on the plane ride home. "Jhette...please take us out of here and back to Japan." 

"Request confirmed. We are now going home."


	20. Chapter 20

Title: The Epic

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 20/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

So sorry for the gap before this chapter! Kyo-chan just went through a long move to the big city and is finally settled in. You've all been very patient, so here you go!

Summary: Hiyono and the Blade Children worry over what will happen now that Ayumu's been hurt. But will they be able to help him before he does something they can't fix?

A/N: Mikyu did it again! Everyone go tell her how awesome her art is! www.sscans.anime.ch/bilder/fanzone/Fanarts/Rei/Ayumu051.jpg

ooooo

Much as she hated to admit it, Hiyono couldn't have been happier when Ayumu fell asleep, curled in the farthest seat back from the rest of the group, wrapped almost to his nose in a blanket. She watched him for a few minutes before making her way carefully to the next few seats, where the Blade Children were gathered and Riku was digging in a cooler for food and drink.

Rio looked up at her and gave a small smile as she approached, though it was a little strained around the edges from worry over Ayumu. Kousuke was half-dozing, curled up like a cat on his portion of the seat.

Eyes sat next to him, arms crossed, eyes closed. One almost might have been fooled into thinking he was asleep, except for how straight his back was in the chair, and how his brow was creased just slightly.

Riku handed Hiyono a bottle of water and snagged one for Rio and herself as well. "You all right?" she asked the blonde.

Hiyono thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "I'm fine, but I would be better if I had answers."

"42." Kousuke mumbled, harvest moon eyes opening just a slit to look up at the blonde.

Rio rolled her eyes. "You need to stop reading those books."

"But it's the answer to life, the universe, and everything..."

The gray-haired girl just sighed and turned her attention to Hiyono, scooting over enough to make some room for her. "What sort of answers?"

The girl sat down and took a long sip of her water. "I'm not sure where to start. Ayumu told me so little about the first time he disappeared that coming along this time just made it that much more confusing. Especially when Kousuke started climbing walls..."

Kousuke gave a slight smirk and held up his hands. "Claws are a wonderfully useful thing when there's a wall to scale. They'd probably be a pretty good weapon too, but I haven't needed to use them for that, yet." The crimson tail twitched, fur shining softly in the light from the windows.

"Okay, I get what you're saying. But what happened to you that gave you claws...and a tail and those ears. I got the impression that the Blade Children weren't exactly normal, but I wasn't thinking you were _that_ out of the ordinary..." Hiyono was surprisingly calm. After seeing Ayumu's state, it had rather sobered her usually loud nature.

Rio sighed, but looked over at Eyes for permission before explaining that much. Kousuke wouldn't really care who knew. In fact, at the moment he was rolling up the sleeves of his black shirt and using one of the bottles of water to get the rest of the blood stains off his skin, revealing the leopard spots. She knew that Eyes was awake, and would know she was looking at him, even with his eyes closed.

Slowly, those ocean-blue eyes opened, but they weren't drifting to Rio, but to Hiyono instead. Riku had explained to Eyes briefly what the girl had done when they found Ayumu, which made him wonder if she wasn't as normal as she thought either. "For the moment, we are all allies here. Without Hiyono, things might not have gone as smoothly as they did." _If you could call how it went 'smooth'..._ "You may give her answers. I will stop you if you are to say too much."

The blonde girl nodded her thanks, understanding that it had been very possible that the Blade Children's leader could have left her guessing.

So Rio nodded and told her, starting from when Ayumu came to them at the playground in a state of near-collapse, through the rescue of not only Kousuke, but Jhette and Riku, the establishment of the Web with Ayumu and later Eyes, and through the messy events that had brought them to today. "And we're still going through all her files," she finished with a sigh. "So while Kousuke turns out to be an empathic nekojin with the ability to toss fire like water balloons, we're still unsure what else will pop up."

Hiyono sat back in her chair, the bottle of water she held uncapped as if she'd planned to drink out of it during the story. But she'd been so wrapped up in listening, that the water had gone forgotten. Her large eyes blinked, her own expression thoughtful as she let it all sink in. "You know...for being so indifferent, Ayumu sure seems to get in his share of situations..."

Kousuke grimaced. "I had no plans for getting him involved in that one. He just showed up, and by the time I persuaded him to blow off, it was too late. I dunno, maybe the gods have something against him or something. Even when we _try_ to exclude him, he ends up tangled in our business."

"Part of that is his own determination." Hiyono sighed and glanced back at the sleeping figure before turning to the others. "He'd...probably be upset if he knew I told you this. But I asked him once why he didn't just turn around and let it go. He told me that it was because he felt like he could finally be important to someone, that he would be able to do something that his brother couldn't. I think that being involved with the Blade Children was as much for his benefit as it was for yours."

Rio sighed sadly. "But the connection he had to Eyes and Kousuke snapped. And with what Kanone had done to him, he may not want to be the Hope anymore."

Hiyono frowned. "Are you guys prepared for that?"

Rio just shrugged. "I...don't know."

Kousuke looked up from his grooming, his expression grim. "I am, but I've never fully believed that I'd be saved from Fate. To be brutally honest, I didn't even think I'd survive to my seventeenth birthday, let alone escape this whole mess." He smirked, forestalling any protest to his fatalistic attitude. "However, it doesn't mean I'll just lie down and take it, either. We'll try and help Ayumu. If that doesn't work...I dunno. Eyes seems to attract insanely good luck, so maybe we'll find another way, if we have to."

Eyes managed a very wry smirk. "I wouldn't count on my luck this time, Kousuke. Luck won't heal a broken man."

"You shouldn't put that so harshly, Eyes," Riku said.

"I shouldn't be honest?"

"Well...I didn't say that..."

Kousuke sighed and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of his back from being in the same seat for several hours. He would be so glad when Jhette got them back into Japanese airspace. "Well, that's where wisdom and courage come in, Eyes. Luck's only one factor in the lives of the Blade Children. Anything could happen at this point. For all I know, Ayumu might go completely berserk and end up slitting my throat, and I won't have to worry about it any more."

"Kousuke!" Rio snapped, "Don't even suggest such a thing!"

Kousuke didn't look the least bit remorseful. "It's better to keep all possibilities in mind. Even the nasty ones. It's how I survived this long."

Eyes looked also as if he wanted to protest, but his reasons were more personal. _At least if you're going to suggest it, try not to be so casual..._ "We were not prepared to lose him in such a way. Because of this, the question is not whether we can fix him to suit our goals, but more to help him heal from what Kanone has done. Depending on what all has happened to him, there may be significant enough damage that going back to 'life as usual' might be difficult."

"He's dealt with Pack," Riku spoke up grimly.

"Could you explain all this stuff about 'Pack' and how you know so much about it?" Kousuke asked, looking over at her.

Riku sighed and leaned back in her chair, watching him as though he might react badly if she explained herself. "Pack...as in...wolf pack. Apparently, Kanone had some of them under his command, and that's what he used to hunt and hurt Ayumu."

Kousuke nodded. "That's probably whose blood is under Ayumu's nails," he agreed. "But how do you know so much about them? I didn't even realize I was smelling wolf."

"But you would know another cat if you picked up its scent, wouldn't you?" Her smile was faded.

Kousuke looked surprised, then shrewd, and he nodded. "I guess so. I wanna know your secret for avoiding Fate while still having your powers, though. I nearly got railroaded when it happened to me."

Rio threw the cap of her water bottle at him. "Have you ever thought that maybe things like that are private or uncomfortable subjects? You're such a prick sometimes, Kousuke!"

Eyes held up his hand, gaze flickering almost nervously to the figure sleeping beyond them. "Quiet your tone, Rio. We're already aware of Kousuke's blunt nature, and I'm sure he is too. Let's try not to wake Little Narumi."

"Truth be told," Riku answered, not really fazed by the way Kousuke had reacted. She had expected as much, and perhaps a little worse. "I really don't know how I managed to escape losing my mind. My talents triggered while I was in a highly dangerous situation, and I barely got out by the skin of my fangs. It was a long shot, and I'm going to stake a claim on some of that infamous Blade Children luck."

Kousuke nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Cool. Can I ask what the danger was, or will you make Jhette eject me for prying?"

"A Hunter. A very strong one."

Kousuke nodded, not saying anything more. He knew about problems with Hunters. He figured that if Riku wanted to go into more detail, she would. If not, there'd be a quick pause, and he'd shift the conversation back to Ayumu.

"Maybe I'll tell you later, but now isn't the time."

Hiyono nodded. "I can try to take care of Ayumu, but... I really don't know what's going to happen any more than you all do."

"There's something wrong with his mind." Kousuke murmured, his eyes distant as he remembered that odd shadow that had backlashed on him when he tried to lessen some of Ayumu's pain. "Something...weird. Unnatural. But I don't know what it is."

"I can try to find out..." Eyes murmured. He hadn't moved his gaze from the sleeping boy.

Kousuke's green-gold eyes flickered to his lover, a flash of worry passing through the bright orbs. "Just be careful. Ayumu zapped me one when I got too close to it."  
Rio tilted her head. "Eyes might have more luck. He's usually a little more careful than you are."

The musician let out a soft breath, closing his eyes once more. "It's worth a shot, isn't it?" He had learned very little about his talent in the short time that had lapsed between discovering it and having to rescue Ayumu. He didn't know very well how to use it, but he was vaguely familiar with picking up a mind to communicate with it. He wondered if that was only easy because of his bond to Kousuke, since he hadn't tried it with anyone else but the redhead. Still, he had to attempt to read Ayumu... it might help them figure out what else had been done, because he didn't think the boy was suffering from just a simple pack mauling.

What he felt was not just the 'something off' that Kousuke suggested. It was like a dark shadow staining Ayumu's mind, and the closer he got to it, the clearer he could hear it whispering words of hatred and death to the 16-year-old. It was an intricate piece of work, and rooted firmly, cemented by the death of the telepath that had set it. It was connected to some of Ayumu's emotions as well as just the proximity of Blade Children, but that was more Kousuke's area. The shadow was clearly there to induce some severely negative effects within Ayumu's unguarded and badly traumatized mind.

Eyes wanted to press further, see if there was anything he could do to fix what had been stained, clear the air in Ayumu's mind. However, if he thought it had been a risk just to go in, trying to tamper with it without knowing how to use his skills could harm the boy more than it would help him. So he carefully backed off to retreat into his own mind, an unsettled frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Rio looked at him worriedly. "Did you find anything?" she asked softly, fiddling with her water bottle.

Blue eyes opened, but only in small slits, brow furrowed in bewilderment and not just a little bit of anger. "I found something all right. But I don't know how to fix it. It...feels as if there's a shadow with a voice, speaking to Ayumu's thoughts. But I don't recognize it as Ayumu's voice, nor is it Kanone's. I don't know where it came from."

"I just know it makes him violent whenever something that scares him gets too close. In this case, that equates to the Blade Children." Kousuke sighed, "But I really don't know how it could have gotten there."

File entry #6547," Jhette's mechanized voice broke in, "Upon the artificial stimulation of the various test subjects, Hunter Samantha discovered that the majority of the Blade Children had possession of the Gift 'Telepathy', in varying levels of strength, and were able to both project and receive. The minority merely had the ability to receive, and instead had some other mental Gift, such as empathy, precognition, and so on. A truly powerful telepath is hypothesized to appear from one Blade Child in ten."

Eyes waved his hand as if to say, 'there you go'. "So someone under Kanone's command was telepathic...and a strong one. But I don't know if it's in my strength to undo the damage. Until I figure out what can be done, I'm at a loss from this point onward."

Kousuke thought hard, but shrugged. "Most of what I've done with my Gift has been instinctive. I could probably separate it from his mind and emotions, but I'd never manage to get rid of it. If anything, I'd just make it--and Ayumu--mad enough to kill. But I don't think we should leave him alone to cope, either."

Hiyono watched them both, noticing that their concern was not about themselves, but rather for Ayumu. It surprised her, even though she'd learned a lot on this excursion. She had thought that the Blade Children just might be selfish enough to think more about how this affected them than it did Ayumu. But she was wrong. "We should just get him home and let him rest for a day or so. Then see what you can do. Trying anything now while you're _all_ exhausted won't do anyone a bit of good."

Rio nodded. "You're right. But I'm more worried that if we leave him alone, he'll either injure himself or get it into his head to literally run away from any place that he knows holds Blade Children. That includes school. And, as selfish as it sounds, there _is_ the worry about how to deal with Fate without him. Riku may have been strong enough to defy it on her own, but from what Kousuke said, he's not. I don't want to deal with that idiot going on a bloody rampage."

"All teasing of Kousuke aside," Riku said, "I'm in agreement with Rio. Who knows if my escaping it was only temporary? What if the more Blade Children that mature, the less I can fight it? No one really knows what the real plan was when we were created."

"Or if anyone knows, it'll be those that either help control Fate or serve it." Kousuke agreed, deciding not to snipe at Rio just now. "Kanone's the only one I know of that description. I'd probably know more, but I was never interested in the hierarchy. Too busy staying alive and all that."

"I think that's the most important detail anyhow," Eyes agreed with Kousuke. "There really isn't much we can do. Fate can at least be held at bay for the next week or so, and that should be enough time to determine where Little Narumi really stands with us."

"With all points compiled, the best course of action would be to have Hiyono look after Narumi Ayumu during that time, as she is the only one of us who understands the situation and yet can get close without a violent reaction." Jhette commented. "In the meantime, Eyes Rutherford should learn what he can about his own Gifts, so as to remove the mental tampering. Such an implant could prove dangerous to the Hope if left untended."

Eyes nodded solemnly. "That's exactly how I plan to proceed." He looked at Hiyono with a piercing gaze.

"Don't worry, Eyes," Hiyono said, sitting up a little straighter in her seat. "I'll do everything that I can to help."

Rio nodded. "You might want to think about keeping him away from sharp things or breakable objects."

"Yeah," Kousuke drawled, "Things like furniture, people, public buildings...OW! Rio, that was my foot!"

Hiyono giggled softly. "You always have to be a smart-ass, don't you?"

Rio nodded. "Always. It's really annoying sometimes."

Kousuke shrugged. "Yeah, but look on the bright side. If I ever start acting polite, you'll know I'm either an imposter or a pod person."

"He's got a point there," Riku said, managing a smile.

Rio raised a mocking eyebrow. "Then I guess he turns into a pod person whenever he's alone with Eyes, ne?"

Kousuke blushed and hissed at her, every inch the offended kitty. "Eyes is a special case."

"Unknown term used. Please clarify. Term 'pod person' unknown. I repeat, please clarify." Jhette said.

Riku laughed. "Information not important to your database," she answered. "But it's basically a term from bad movies, meaning someone who acts very much not like themselves."

"Confirmed. Riku...does that make me a pod person?"

"No. Like Kousuke having a special case with Eyes, you too are a special case. We don't know what's normal for you, so we can't really say you're not normal, now can we?"

There was a moment of silence as Jhette considered this. "I see. And...Narumi Ayumu is not a pod person, because that is a negative connotation, as opposed to humorous?"

Kousuke chuckled. "Right. Being called a pod person is usually just a joke. And you can't be a pod person, because you actually realized that. I saw that stupid movie. No pod person had a sense of humor."

"You living creatures are horribly illogical."

"Everyone has to have a hobby," Hiyono piped up somewhat tiredly cheerful.

"I do not comprehend, but I do confirm." Jhette sighed. "By the way, I have entered Japanese air space. We will be landing shortly."

"Thank goodness," Eyes breathed, leaning back in his seat, lids fluttering closed. "I can't wait to take a nap..."

"Sleep sounds good," Kousuke agreed, "aspirin sounds better. And a hot shower. I reek of smoke and blood."

Rio nodded. "Maybe we should have Jhette drop us off home first, then take Hiyono and Little Narumi home?"

"That might be best. Hopefully, he'll stay out until we can get him to where he won't feel threatened by us," Riku said.

"I'm glad I won't be there when his guardian sees the mess he's in. I don't think Madoka-san will be pleased." Rio said, absently yanking her hair out of the pigtails. She had a mild headache.

Hiyono winced. "I've seen her temper in action. I don't think she'll be very happy either. I think I'll have Jhette-san take us to my place for the night. I'll see about getting Ayumu as nicely patched up as possible. The less evidence there is the better."

"Don't run yourself ragged," Kousuke cautioned. "If your ability to heal is anything like my empathy, using it too much will lay you flat. And we both know Ayumu wouldn't like that."

The blonde looked at her hands. "I guess... I honestly didn't know I could do anything like that. It just happened..."

"Eh, sounds like the entire last couple of weeks. Don't freak out about it. Just accept it and learn to use it."

Rio smirked. "Okay, Kousuke. Now I know you're a pod person. You're being nice to Hiyono."

Kousuke blinked, then snapped his fingers. "Damn, you caught me. I'll have to alert the mother ship when we get back."

Riku shook her head. "Baka."

Kousuke pretended to be offended. "Let's see you try to mimic people from another planet! Not only are there all these annoying earthling customs that make no sense, but even the languages are enough to give any self-respecting pod person a headache!"

"Now you're just being silly," Hiyono said, reaching out and ruffling his hair.

Kousuke sputtered, but it quickly turned into a purr, as her hands brushed the crimson ears as well as the fiery hair. He still looked mildly annoyed at the breach in his personal space, but the catlike love for physical contact kept him from batting her hand away.

She giggled softly, but didn't linger, seeing that as Eyes's territory, not hers.

Something that Kousuke approved of, though he didn't mention it for fear of yet more teasing from the girls. Instead, he curled up back in his seat. He _wanted_ to curl up against Eyes, but he didn't want to get the smell of burning flesh on him.

Eyes reached out and picked up where Hiyono left off, not caring about any bad scents because he knew they could be erased in a hot shower. He couldn't wait to get home.

ooooo

Rio walked up the stairs to the roof, knowing that she was technically walking into danger, but also knowing it was necessary. It had been almost a week since they'd brought Little Narumi home, and all of the Blade Children had stayed away to try and give him breathing space. But from what little Rio and Kousuke had glanced of him in the halls, he wasn't calming down, and Hiyono had said that he was actually getting more unpredictable in his temper and nerves. Rio felt it was more than time to try and approach him again, to hopefully convince him to come back with her and see if Eyes and Kousuke could somehow fix what was aching within him. They'd both been doing their best to learn about their new abilities from Jhette's files, though it was a general consensus that it would be Eyes to help Ayumu, and not Kousuke. Kousuke's Gift just wasn't suited to this problem, especially not with active telepathic tampering at work. And that was yet another detail that Rio felt Ayumu needed to know, because Hiyono hadn't yet told him.

As predicted, Ayumu could be found on the roof, but unlike other days, he looked hardly relaxed or refreshed from the naps he often took up there. Instead, he stood at the rail, where the fence wrapped around, preventing anyone from falling. One hand was curled in the mesh of the fence, the other shoved into his pocket. His spine was tense, damn near rigid as he held a firm stance like something waiting to strike, a caged animal waiting for the moment the door opened for feeding time. His golden eyes were fixed somewhere out into the midday sky, as if an answer waited out in the distance. Even if his expression was no less than its usual indifferent mask, one who knew him well enough could tell that something felt...different about his presence.

Rio was one of those people, and it didn't take an empath like Kousuke or a telepath like Eyes to know that the change wasn't good, either for him or anyone around him. She took a few steps out onto the roof, and steeled herself for what would likely be a very tense conversation.

"Little Narumi?"

The slight jerk of his body made it seem as if the sound of her voice was like a needle sliding home to draw blood, startling and just slightly painful. His fingers tightened around chain links, a sign that he held back from a more irrational movement. "What do you want?" It was that same indifferent tone, but with a razor-sharp edge to it.

"Just to talk," Rio said, keeping her voice even and soothing. "We're worried about you."

Ayumu found her tone patronizing, and he bit back a scathing retort. "I'm fine."

"No you're not, Little Narumi. Even Hiyono knows you're not." She bit her lip, wondering how to explain what had been done to him.

"Even if I'm not, it isn't something that's open for discussion with _you_."

Rio's mouth became a tight line, trying to keep from yelling at him for that. "We're still your friends, Little Narumi. And we worry. Especially since we know more about what they did to you than you do."

"You don't know anything about what _they_ did to me," he murmured, that sharp edge making his voice tight now. His head slowly turned, an eerie motion that suddenly made his every movement seem careful, calculated. There was a coiling strike that he did not act upon, not yet. He held back, but only by a fraction of self-control...or if he were influenced by the space between them. _Still a safe distance...not truly safe from them...can't be safe when they're close_... "Whatever you think you are to me or I am to you, just let it go. I want nothing to do with it anymore."

"But we're scared you'll get hurt if you stay like this!" Rio said, her own voice tight with anxiety. "We do know what was done, and more, if you'll come back with me, we can fix it..."

"I am _not _coming back with you, Rio Takeuchi. Not with you, not to them, not now, not _ever_. Let me have my life back." His eyes were like cold amber stones. "If you were so concerned about whether or not I'd be hurt, none of you would have come to me for help by trying to kill me. I'm not playing games this time. Leave. Me. Alone."

"But...I can't just leave you like this. If nothing else, then at least come back so we can undo some of the damage that the other Blade Children caused. But you have to let us help you!"

"I don't _have _to let you do anything!" Ayumu raised his voice for the first time, whirling away from the fence so abruptly that it rattled behind him as he faced her full-on. "You are one of the Blade Children too! So are they! You can't cure poison with poison; it just doesn't work that way!"

"But we're _not_ poison to you!" she cried, stepping closer. "Whatever we started as, we're your friends, and we do care about you! We _wanted_ to keep you safe, but we didn't know Kanone would kidnap you! And if we really didn't care, would we have come all that way to save you? Eyes and Kousuke have been working themselves to exhaustion to find a way to help you!"

Whether it was the advancement towards him or the mention of the two Blade Children that made him the most nervous, the reaction was not unlike that of waving red before a wild bull. Something...viciously angry passed over Ayumu's expression like a dark cloud. "Leave me be, Rio," he growled, hands shaking as he fought the growing urge to hit her, do something to quiet her voice. "While you still can."

But Rio couldn't, not until she'd told him what had been done, no matter how dangerously angry he got. "Little Narumi...back when the Pack had you, they--"

_She's so much smaller...so much easier to get rid of..._ "Hunted me? Chased me down using the smell of my blood and damn near tore me apart?" It was he closing the distance between them now, his eyes like fire. "I don't like being reminded."

Rio took an instinctive step back at the look in his eyes. It wasn't pleasant, or entirely sane. In fact, it looked downright feral. "That's not what I meant! Your mind, Little Narumi! One of them tore at your mind! And he left something there that makes you react violently to the Blade children around you! What you're feeling and doing isn't entirely under your control!"

To Ayumu that slight retreat felt like an invitation a reason to do what came to mind. His stride longer than hers, the space she'd put between them was closed in an instant. Fueled by the negative adrenaline that Rio's arrival to his place to be alone had inspired, he closed a strong hand around her throat. The movement was so quick; even he hadn't realized he'd lashed out until he felt her frantic heartbeat under his palm. "Then you'll understand, won't you...? That I can't let you live..."

Rio struggled for breath as he closed off her windpipe, and made a move to reach for the little foldable knife she usually kept in her sleeve. But she froze, realizing that trying to hurt him would not only just make him react worse, but that she didn't actually _have_ the knife. She'd come up here unarmed, in the hopes that it would keep the younger Narumi calmed. All she could do was struggle and clutch at his hands, agate-gray eyes staring in horror into maddened gold.

Something had a hold of Ayumu too, gripping his heart and mind instead of his throat, but the effect was about the same. His breathing stilled the moment he truly saw into her fear, realizing that she was doing very little to fight back. His vision tilted and he felt panic, hand tightening as he remembered the knife...the need to get away...to kill... There had been so much blood. _No! I don't want to kill... not again! _His eyes clenched shut and he threw her away from him, staggering back and barely catching his balance.

Rio didn't, already disoriented from the lack of air. She landed badly, her head banging into the concrete of the roof with a loud crack, and she lay still.

"Ayumu!" Hiyono's voice called from the roof's doorway. Her footsteps seem to echo loudly against the brunette's ears, and he stumbled back until he was leaning against the fenced rail at the roof's edge again. He buried his face in his hands, sinking down.

Hiyono saw Rio's crumpled form and she was torn for a moment on who to go to first. But if a comparison was to be made, at least Ayumu was still conscious. She knelt down next to the girl, gently pulling her into her arms, knowing somehow to carefully cradle her head. The movement showed her some quickly forming bruises on Rio's throat, and she swallowed hard, feeling that tingling starting in her body like it had done once before.

Rio lay still in her arms, slackly unconscious. She didn't seem badly hurt; for all that Ayumu had genuinely tried to kill her in those first few seconds.

Hiyono wouldn't be fully convinced until Rio was conscious. She barely believed that Ayumu could have done this, but his reaction to it seemed to indicate his guilt. Her dark eyes drifted over to him, feeling compassionate and a little wary. It was not in her knowledge of him to believe that he could hurt someone, almost kill, that was not the Ayumu Narumi she knew.

As if he could feel her gaze, he lifted his face from his hands. He wasn't crying, but the strain in his brows and the tightness of his lips showed that he wasn't far from it. Shakily he got to his feet, looking at the two girls with something unidentifiable in his gaze. And then he ran.

"Ayumu...!" Hiyono yelled after him, but he had already gone.

ooooo

Ayumu had a headache by the time he reached his apartment. He had no care for the teachers that would miss his attendance in class; it wasn't as if he participated much in the first place. Breathless, he climbed the stairs to his apartment, no longer running. If only his mind were as easy to exhaust as his body. Even with the school being a short distance, the run took a lot out of him. Unfortunately, the less his body worked, the more his mind wanted to. Digging into his pocket, he retrieved his key and stumbled into the apartment, leaning against the door as it shut and trying to catch his breath.

His conscience railed at him, pointing out mercilessly how Rio hadn't fought back, and hadn't even really done anything to warrant such behavior except for stepping too close. If she was to be believed, she'd been trying to help him by warning him about what one of his torturers had done to his mind.

Dropping his bag to the floor, he kicked his shoes off and staggered to the dining room, sinking into to a chair and burying his face in his arms. His stomach was in knots, remembering her eyes, her words. Distantly, he was thankful he hadn't eaten his lunch, because the thought of how close he'd come to killing her wouldn't have let it settle. _What's wrong with me?  
_

Common sense pointed out that Rio had told him what was wrong. He'd just taken it as an excuse to attack her.

He curled up as tight as he could in the chair, tears stinging the backs of his eyes, and he clenched them to hold back. "Dammit..." he muttered shakily. Ayumu knew that he owed her an apology, but the thought of getting close enough to administer one made the sick fear come back all over again.

The sound of the door opening was loud against the silence of his terror.

"Ayumu! The beautiful intelligent incredible Madoka-sama is home!"

If nothing else, her arrival sobered him away from the tears, but little more. "I guess...I'll start dinner then..." He pushed the chair back and slowly got up, feeling even more tired than ever, and headed for the kitchen.

Madoka walked in, but instead of agreeing to dinner, she came in the room, looked him up and down, and walked over to shove him back in the chair. "No, I don't think so. You and I need to talk, Ayumu."

He almost struck her hand away, but Ayumu quickly held back, knowing that he didn't need to resort to anything violent against Madoka. He wasn't really looking forward to this...talk, however... "If it's about me skipping the rest of school today, I'm sorry. I'll make it up. You're home from work awfully early anyway, so I'm not the only one who played hooky."

Madoka looked annoyed, but shoved it down. "You are not distracting me with problems from work. This is about you, Ayumu. And the first thing to note is that you look like crap. You've looked like crap ever since you got home, and you act like someone who's seen hell and didn't quite live to tell about it."

Ayumu had to admit to himself that the description felt more accurate than he would have liked. "I'm just tired, Madoka. I would hardly equate school to hell, even though I don't really like being there."

Madoka sat down in the chair across from him. "No, but you looked like this when you came back from that 'retreat' you went on. And you weren't in school then."

Ayumu closed his eyes, smiling as he remembered the note. There was no real humor behind the expression; it was more of a sad reaction of relief. Apparently, Kanone had been right when he said that Madoka would remember none of what had happened to her during his visit. "I'm tired," he insisted, knowing that he wasn't lying about that.

"Because you haven't been sleeping. I've heard you crying at night, Ayumu." Her voice softened, her eyes worried. "I'm not going to ask what happened while you were gone, because somehow I know you can't and won't tell me. But I hate seeing you so frightened and angry."

Ayumu's face paled moments before it turned dark red in shame. He had never meant for Madoka to notice, to hear...not once. He swallowed back a lump in his throat, feeling almost like he couldn't breathe. He wouldn't cry before her, he hadn't done it a single time since he'd taken up Kiyotaka's slack in their little family; he refused to let it happen now.

Madoka sighed and got up, sitting down again in the chair next to him, and gently pulled him into her arms. "You know, it's all right to cry when you hurt. It doesn't make you less of a good person."

It reminded of when she first held him, on the platform to the train leading home. Would she still call him a good person if she knew he had killed? Would she still hold him if she knew that he was a murderer, not unlike those she caught in her daily activities? How could he be a good person when every fiber of his being screamed his weakness, fear, frustration and exhaustion?! He was lying...to her, to himself... He barely noticed when he began to shake. "I can't..."

"Can't and won't are two very different things, Ayumu." Madoka pointed out, hugging him gently. "If I'm not the one you feel comfortable opening yourself to, that's all right. But Ayumu...if there _is_ someone who can help you through this, you should go to them. No one wants to see you suffer alone."

Ayumu had never felt so lost in his life, as if in such a short time, he'd made all the wrong choices, and he would be paying for them for the rest of his life. "I...don't know anything...anymore..."

Madoka began stroking his hair, the gesture very maternal. "Everyone has moments like that, Ayumu. They can last from anywhere to just an hour to years on end, but everyone has that horrible feeling at least once. We all make at least one awful mistake, and everyone has something that they'll regret for the rest of their lives. The important part is to learn from the mistakes and the pain, and become a better and stronger person for it. Sometimes, it can't be done without help from others."

The brunette curled up against her as if he were still that young boy who didn't know how to see beyond Kiyotaka's shadow. What he felt was beyond that kind of darkness, but having Madoka tell him the truth just the way he needed to hear it seemed to help just like her embraces had back then. "I... Madoka, forgive me..."

"Always. You're family, Ayumu, and I love you like my own little brother. Whatever happened, I know it was probably terrible, to upset you this much. But I also know that you never act without a serious reason, even if you regret the actions later." She sighed and gently rubbed his back. "You're starting to walk down your own path, and naturally you'll stumble a few times, or even get tripped by those that want to hurt you. The best that can be hoped for is that you have someone nearby to help you stand again, and can trust to bandage the hurts. Sometimes, you don't even realize how much you trust someone or need someone until they're not able to reach you."

Could that really be true? Ayumu looked up at her, and then back down again. "I had to take my own path... I started walking Kiyotaka's even before he left. I came back...because I honestly thought that in his absence, I could take everything for myself and then I'd be happy." He hated his inability to shut up once he started talking.

Madoka just shook her head, giving a sad little smile. "Baka. Happiness won't come from trying to force yourself into Kiyotaka's footsteps. You're not Narumi Kiyotaka, but Narumi Ayumu, and you need to stand on your own feet and play to your own strengths. You're different people, and have different talents. For one thing, Kiyotaka couldn't cook to save his life, and every time he got really involved in his thinking, he ran into walls. You, at least, don't humiliate yourself in public like that."

Ayumu gently pulled away from her and met her gaze. He was still very tired and still startled by how wise she was to the situation, seeming to have figured everything in life out already. "Maybe not... but I did you a great disservice, Madoka. I tried to take you away from him too, even though I knew it was next to impossible. But I guess...I guess you could say I've grown up some. It wasn't my right to assume everything that I did about what he was and wasn't to you. I'm still so very angry at him for not being honest with me about things, but I'll settle that with him when I find him."

Madoka nodded. "In the meantime, you should be thinking about how to make things better for yourself. You're scared, and you're angry, and most notably, you're lonely. And I have to ask, is there anyone out there who you think could help to fix what's wrong?"

_Eyes and Kousuke have been working themselves to exhaustion to find a way to help you! _Ayumu closed his eyes. "I have an idea, but I don't know for sure yet. I have to be sure before I walk that path."

"Sometimes, you _can't_ be sure, though. Life isn't a mystery novel, with all the loose ends neatly tied up or all the clues neatly laid out to lead you to the answer. Sometimes, you just have to follow what feels right, without knowing the whys or hows."

"You just had to go and make sense there, didn't you?" Ayumu grumbled.

The older woman gave a sniff. "Of course. I am your wise and powerful oneesan. So if there _is_ someone out there who you think can help you get through this, you should gather that immense amount of courage I know you have and go to them. And if you don't have all the answers, that's life, and sometimes you just have to leave some things to faith."

_Courage...faith..._ "I'll make dinner," he said softly, getting up from the chair. He knew that she would understand the gratitude he couldn't find the words to express at the moment. He still had a lot of thinking to do...and a lot of that courage to muster.  
Sighing softly to himself, he shuffled into the kitchen to peer into the refrigerator. "I can't win..."

Madoka chuckled. "Nope. You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't even quit the game. But that's what makes people strong enough to pave their own destinies, I think."

Ayumu couldn't help thinking about just how true that was.


	21. Chapter 21

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 21/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Summary: After a near-fateful encounter with a very sneaky Hunter, Ayumu finds himself filled with the need to make things feel right again.

ooooo

Despite Madoka's soothing words, Ayumu's dreams were dark and full of blood, replaying the horrible memories, not only of Kanone's cruelty and the viciousness of the Pack, but of the images that had been forced into his mind of the Blade Children he personally knew harming him. It was almost as if his mind was trying to drown out the sense in his sister-in-law's words by shoving the brutality, both real and imagined, down his throat. _This is what happened when you got too close,_ it hissed in his ears, _This is what will happen if you try to stay...  
_

Ayumu tried to fight it, using Rio's words, recalling them and trying to make them make sense to him. He would be putting a lot at risk if he dared to believe they could help him, and even with Madoka encouraging him, he wasn't sure he had that kind of strength and courage. _I need to stay away from them... they'll hurt me...or let me hurt them...  
_

"They're horrible, aren't they?" The voice was female, soft and gentle. Suddenly, the images of the nightmare were one step removed, as if he was watching a movie. And sitting in front of him was a beautiful sweet-faced girl, wearing a light blue sundress that brought out her sky-blue eyes. Her face was pleasantly heart-shaped, and framed by long golden hair. She smiled sweetly at him. "Hello, Narumi-san." 

Ayumu felt awkward being there, as if he was out of place in his own dreams, but that couldn't be right, could it? He stared at this stranger, a woman that he'd never seen before, who seemed so comfortably rooted here as if she belonged more than he did. "Who are you?" he asked quietly, hearing his voice echo back to him as he studied her, trying to think if he'd met her before. 

She smiled brightly and gave a quick little bow. "I'm Cassandra. But you can call me Cassie. I'm so glad I'm able to talk to you like this! I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get past all the Blade Children that were surrounding you." 

His gaze was suspicious, an expression he wore almost constantly now when he was unsure of his surroundings or what would happen. "What do you want with me?" 

Her expression was understanding. "You don't trust me, and I understand that. The Blade Children really hurt you a great deal, didn't they?" 

"What do you know about them?" He didn't want to so easily fall for someone's compassion, especially someone he didn't know. 

"Quite a bit, actually," Cassandra sighed. "You see, I'm a Hunter." 

Ayumu's eyes widened, and he took a step back, remembering the last Hunter he'd come across. He had almost died that night... "If you're here to kill me, I'll fight you too..." 

"Oh, no no! Not at all!" the girl exclaimed, looking horrified at the thought. "You're not a Blade Child, just someone who was unfortunate enough to get caught up with them! I actually wanted to ask you a favor!" 

"A...favor...?" His head was reeling, and he could only guess it was because too much was happening at once. Lately, it always was. He stared at her, interest and still a bit of wariness in his expression. 

"I...need someone to help me with my work." Cassandra admitted. "You've experienced firsthand what the Blade Children can do. They're too dangerous to live in this world, and will only get more dangerous as time goes on. I don't want to make them suffer, because they can't help what they are, but they can't be left alive, either." 

Ayumu's face paled as the reality of what she was asking him hit home. "I...can't do what you ask..." 

"Why?" Cassandra asked. "Don't you think it would be better to quietly send them on their way now, instead of having to deal with a horrible massacre later? They're a dangerous people, Narumi-san. And while they live, you and others like you will always have to live in fear, wondering when the next one will show up and start killing." 

He shook his head. "No! If my own life or someone's I care about is in danger, then I'll do what I have to, but I will _not_ kill again! You don't know what you're asking me to sacrifice, and it's not a price I'm willing to pay, not even for the Blade Children." 

Cassandra looked sympathetic, her smile gentle and almost motherly. "You don't have to kill, Narumi-san. That bloody task is my job. But there's more than one way to work as a Hunter. You're good at following trails and understanding patterns that most don't see. And Blade Children who have not yet gone mad don't seem to like outwardly attacking you. You can help without killing." 

The darkness in Ayumu's dreams disagreed, pushing still for Ayumu to take up arms and create a safe world for himself with his own hands, one splash of blood at a time. Only then would he truly be able to live his life again... 

Ayumu shuddered almost violently, at war within himself again. Everything this woman said seemed to make sense, much in the same way that Madoka's words had earlier made sense. Could this possibly mean that the courage he needed was to join those that were totally different than the Blade Children that had come to mind when she mentioned seeking help? It seemed unlikely, but the kind face before him also spoke logic, and he was so tired of being scared... 

But to be indirectly or directly the cause of someone's death was still murder... He would be resorting to the very thing the Blade Children were destined to do... did that not make him just as guilty and worthy to be Hunted himself? He was so confused.  
"I...I don't know..."

Cassandra walked over, placing a soft hand on Ayumu's shoulder. This close, he could smell her perfume, a delicate scent of violets. "Think of it this way; if the Blade Children aren't removed now, they'll all eventually go mad. Then, no one will be safe. Could you bear to have what happened to you happen to those you care for? I couldn't. That's why I became a Hunter, after I lost Mama to a Blade Child." 

Ayumu shook his head, thinking that if the Blade Children ended up hurting Hiyono, or worse Madoka, he would never forgive himself. He'd arrived too late one day, and Kanone had spared her in return for him. He might not be so lucky the next time around. He had to protect his family, what was left of it, first. "I don't...want anyone to get hurt anymore..." 

"I know," she murmured softly. "But during times like this, someone will. The choice you have to make is: will it be your friends and family, or the monsters who want to drag them under the bed or into the closet? There will be deaths, because the Blade Children have to be dealt with, but at least there'll be far less death than if we let them continue to exist in this world." 

"Is that really true? Do they know for sure that Fate is for real and not just something that was thought up to keep them in line?" It was a question he'd never heard anyone ask before. Everyone always talked about Fate as if it were gospel truth, yet the ones that told the stories hadn't been touched by it themselves. What if it were a cruel rumor Yaiba had whispered to make sure that one way or another they did his bidding? By the time they'd realized it was a ruse, they might have driven themselves crazy just trying to run away from it or embrace it. Ayumu knew that any mind was complex enough to make its own problems. 

A little voice in Ayumu's head asked what that horrible darkness that nearly swallowed Kousuke had been, if not Fate, but it was drowned out by Cassandra's sweet voice. 

"Yes, it's real. You see, Narumi-san, just as you are Kiyotaka-san's younger brother, Yaiba also had a younger brother, Hizumi. And he is the one that controls Fate, as the other Mindbreaker."

"So...if he actually controls the Fate...then why not kill him? Yaiba created this whole mess...couldn't it just be stopped by killing his younger brother?" There had to be a way to do it without so much bloodshed, but the thought of getting rid of at least one of them caught the interest of that little voice that told him he needed to kill before being killed. 

Cassandra sighed sadly. "We thought of that, but...we can't touch him. Even if there wasn't a debate over whether he's a Blade Child himself, there's the fact that he's too well protected. He's a deadly person, fully capable of taking out whole cities if need be. All we can do is neutralize him by getting rid of the more active agents to Fate." 

"And then...what happens when only he is left...?" Ayumu asked softly, almost unable to believe that he was actually pondering her words. But Madoka had said that he needed to go to those that would help him. What if that didn't mean those that he had gotten close to before? 

Cassandra's smile was so warm, so open, as if inviting him to step into the sun after long hours in the dark. "By then, we'll have weakened Hizumi enough to trap him. And then, we can decide whether he truly has to die, or if the bloodshed can end without that last slaying." 

"I...I see... Do you think...that it could be done without killing everyone? Weaken him enough and trap him before all but he has to die?" He moved forward first one step, then two, unsure of himself or what he was thinking anymore. 

Cassandra sighed, looking sad. "I won't lie to you, because you've had too much of that. I won't hide truths." She looked at him, meeting his tormented golden eyes with her own clear blue. "I'm afraid there isn't. We've tried, and many Hunters have gone down in the attempt. And now, with some of the Blade Children coming into their powers earlier than expected, Hizumi has even more to call on for his defense. Sad as it is, the Blade Children will have to die, before more people are hurt like you, or killed like Mama." 

Ayumu sighed softly, holding her gaze for a long moment, trying to gauge it. Finally, he lowered his head. "I don't want to make the killing blow," he whispered. 

Cassandra smiled. "You don't have to unless you wish to. Otherwise, it's enough to have the help." 

Reaching up, he ran a hand through his hair. Was this really the right decision? He didn't know...but he wanted that scared, unsafe feeling to go away, no matter what the cost. Maybe he could overcome his fear of the Blade Children by answering that very strong call to lash out at them. "I...don't know how much help I could be, but..." 

There was a loud _crack_, and a bolt of silver lightning suddenly struck down between them, sending Cassandra back with a startled cry. 

"You'll do no such thing, Little Narumi." The voice was Rio's. 

Ayumu jumped back, his eyes wide and startled, as if coming out of some kind of trance. "R-Rio...?!" He wanted to be angry, but he was too busy getting his heart to calm down to worry about that. 

Rio appeared out of the darkness, but it was a Rio much changed. Her hair was down, and within the argent strands were strings of black feathers. Her eyes were lined in red and black, and red and black stripes slashed over her face and down her neck to beneath her clothing. Her ears were now pointed, and black claws adorned her hands. Most notable were the black feathered wings against her back. "You're making a mistake, Little Narumi. Siding with Huntress Cassandra will only lead to chaos. Once you're no use to her, she'll kill you with just as much relish as when killing her brethren." 

Cassandra glared at her, then smiled, but it was not a pleasant smile. "Takeuchi Rio. I see you've Awakened. I didn't think that Yaiba had actually found a woman from the Tengu clans." 

"Wh-what's going on?" Ayumu said quietly, taking another step away from them both. He had been staring at Rio until Cassandra spoke, and then that smile sent chills down his spine. _Lies..._ His arms crossed over his chest, hugging himself. _Not more lies...  
_

Rio turned to look at him, her gray eyes angry. "You were just about to ally yourself with the most deadly Hunter there is. She's a heartless murderer who enjoys killing Blade Children most of all because they represent the greatest challenge to her. The reason? Cassandra is a Blade Child too. And her most potent weapon is your dreams. All she needs is a strand of hair or a drop of blood to have a connection." 

Amber eyes turned back to Cassandra, feeling the impact of Rio's words sinking in. He felt that slow burn of anger thread into his blood. If what Rio was saying was true, he would have been tricked by another Blade Child. Ayumu didn't know what to think. "You...got into my dreams... Did you get my hair from Kanone?" 

Cassandra looked annoyed, but sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Well, now that Rio's blown my cover, there's no real reason to hide it, is there? Yes, I got your hair from Kanone-chan. He's a sweetie, the way he tends to bend to my every wish. Unfortunately, I didn't count on any more of Rutherford's pets maturing before I'd claimed you for my own uses. The fact that she's here at all rather surprises me." 

Rio shook her head. "Tengu can easily appear in peoples' dreams. And after what happened this afternoon, I knew I had to watch him, just in case. I won't let you subvert the Hope!" 

"B-but I...tried to kill you..." Ayumu said, his tone confused and more than a little lost. "Why would you...still look out for me...?" 

Rio turned to look at him, the anger fading from her eyes into something sadder. "A couple reasons, really. You are the Hope, and the Blade Children need you. You are our friend, and _we_ need you. And you are Eyes's and Kousuke's faith, and _they_ need you most of all." 

_What about what I need...?_ he wondered to himself, but he didn't say it out loud. He turned to Cassandra, frowning. "You would have used me to kill despite my protests. To what point or purpose would _you _have to kill your own kind? Are you really trying to stop Fate?" 

Cassandra laughed. "Stop it? Of course not! My mission is to use the Hunters to weed out the weak Blade Children, who are unfit to supplant the sheep that currently call themselves the human race. And _you_ would have been a great asset to that. Only weaklings and fools would hesitate to kill the Hope if their lives depended on it. And you would have made such a skillful killer. But then, you already do, don't you?" she said, glancing at the terrible bloody scenes still going on behind them, one step removed. 

Ayumu turned his head away sharply, squeezing his eyes shut. "I had no options left," he said through clenched teeth. 

"Hmph. You enjoyed it." Cassandra pointed out. 

"That's not true." Rio protested softly. "Little Narumi's a gentle person, Cassandra. He wasn't meant to kill. He was born to offer sanctuary, not death. And if you come near him again, I will destroy you." 

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? How do you know you'll even be able to? You've Awakened, after all. Hizumi-sama will snatch you up the moment you leave here." 

Rio's lips thinned with annoyance. "Then I will take the steps needed to prevent that. Little Narumi," she shouted, her tone commanding, "let me into the Web!" 

That snapped him back to reality, staring at Rio wide-eyed. The Web... He'd forgotten about it in his haste to try and close himself off from the pain. He knew that Eyes and Kousuke had been a part of it, but they were still fighting, they were fine and holding on to their sanity. It had allowed him to push the existence of his own connection out of his mind, sever it. He had left Kanone's believing that he didn't want to be the Hope because it would mean never having to undergo that kind of pain again. "I...I can't..." 

Rio glared at him, her eyes blazing like ball lightning for a moment. "Little Narumi, you can either let me into the Web so that I have the freedom to keep you safe from her, or you can run away like a child, and prove yourself to be a thousand times weaker than Kiyotaka ever was!" 

A flash of rage darted across Ayumu's amber gaze, and he locked eyes with Rio. It was as if his mind reached out to forcibly find hers, seeking it out the way he had Kousuke's when he'd unknowingly discovered the real thing underneath the altered personality. Rio's presence was easy to find, especially here in his dream. Yanking her 'in' with him was the work of a moment, and his expression was grim. "Happy now? I get sick of people using my brother against me."

"If it makes you see sense and gets you to _act _instead of _react_, I have no qualms with pushing your buttons." Rio replied tartly, before turning to glare at Cassandra once more. "Leave now, or I'll _make_ you leave." 

"Oh?" Cassandra murmured, "And how will you do that? I could just Sing for the boy." 

"You won't." Rio replied. "You wouldn't dare risk tampering with the shadows already implanted into Little Narumi's mind. And I know you can't use your gift of Light as a weapon here. In this world of dreams, I'm the stronger of us. But I'd rather not force Ayumu to witness another death." 

Ayumu watched the two of them, wondering distantly how it was that these two had more control over a dream that should have been his own than he himself did. "Leave..." he said to Cassandra. "You're not welcome here. You never were." 

Cassandra glowered at him, those guileless blue eyes now hard and vicious. "Very well. But I'll come for all of you eventually. I am not considered the greatest fear of the Blade Children for nothing." With that, she vanished. With it went the terrible images of the nightmare. 

Rio turned to Ayumu, looking sad. "I'm sorry I had to burst in, Little Narumi. I know you'd rather we all stayed away, but I just can't leave you to jackals like her. Are you okay?" 

Ayumu took a seat right there, plopping down to the ground and hugging his knees. "I guess so...as all right as expected. Th-thank you." 

Now that things were calm again, it was suddenly apparent that holding Rio's section of the Web was..._harder_ than it should have been. He could still do it, but the wellspring of strength that he'd had with Eyes and Kousuke was no longer there, as if it had all drained away when the connections to them snapped. 

_Something's wrong..._ "I...I'm sorry, Rio." He meant it for what he'd done earlier. For some reason, knowing that this was a dream and not reality made it easier for him to control himself while she was 'near'. 

Rio shook her head, the feathers in her hair rustling softly. "It's not your fault. Little Narumi, _none_ of the deaths were your fault. There was a telepath among those that hurt you. He did something that makes you kill when Blade Children get too close. That included the ones hurting you at the time. You couldn't control yourself, either then or at school today. That's why I wanted you to come back. Eyes is a telepath, and we think he can fix this." 

"I...don't know if I'm ready..." And it was the truth. He still didn't know what to expect of himself, or how he'd react outside of his dreams if he got that close to them. He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. So someone had made those voices in his mind? He might have thought it untrue, too farfetched if he hadn't seen everything else he had since meeting the Blade Children. He was beginning to think he should just come to terms with expecting the unexpected. 

Rio looked unhappy with that, but nodded acceptance. "Okay. I'll go now, but please consider it." And then she was gone, leaving Ayumu alone in the dreamscape. Since he himself had no ability to control this area, it unraveled, sending him back into normal sleep.

ooooo

It should have come to no one's surprise that the next day's lunch hour found Ayumu in his normal brooding spot. A day at school just wasn't normal without him finding his way to the roof to be alone with his thoughts. It wasn't as if he'd been paying all that much attention in class anyway, still caught up in the last couple of days and how they related to the last couple of weeks. Except that when he was on the roof, there was a far less chance that he'd have some teacher coming over to demand if he was paying attention. He found himself at the fenced edge of the roof again, staring out but not really seeing anything beyond. 

There was the sound of the roof door opening, and footsteps behind him.  
"Been busy, haven't you, Ayumu?" came Kousuke's voice, sounding flat and slightly angry. 

Ayumu's lips parted in a gasp of surprise. Usually he knew when someone was coming up the stairs, before they reached the door. But he had been so deep in thought that he didn't even know until the more obvious sounds had been made. His entire body went rigid, hearing the angry tone and bracing himself for a confrontation. Even now, that defensive feeling crawled down his spine, telling him to be on guard. 

Kousuke looked at the boy in front of him, noting the stiffness of his frame, but at the moment too angry to care. "You nearly killed Rio yesterday, Ayumu. And then you nearly sign yourself over to Huntress Cassandra. I thought you were better than that." 

Guilt swelled up in Ayumu as if it were tangible within his body. He swallowed hard, but couldn't choke it back. It felt so meaningless to say that he was sorry again, especially when he agreed with Kousuke about being better. He used to be, but these days there was no way to tell. He twined his fingers in the chain links again, much like he'd done the day before, his forehead resting on the cool steel. "Thank you for the recap of my mistakes, Asazuki. Is that all you have to say?" 

"No. In fact, I have a bunch of stuff I'd _like_ to say, but most of it would get us both expelled," the nekojin hissed. "I just came to warn you. _Never_ harm my family like that again. Ever." 

The hostility in his voice was awakening other things besides guilt. The fear was rising again, and with it, the horrible drive to attack and kill. And it was worse this time, because Kousuke was one of the two that desired him. 

Ayumu clung tighter to the fencing, as if he could hold on from getting sucked into that frightening mindset. But it was already there, eating at the edges of his mind and feeding the fear that having Kousuke this close induced. "Don't... threaten me, Kousuke..." It wasn't a demand or a threat of his own. The slight undertone to the almost whispered response was that of a plea. He knew that if the redhead got too close or said too much, he'd lose control, just like he had yesterday with Rio. 

"It's not a threat. It's a promise." Kousuke snapped. "If you _ever_ hurt one of us for no reason ever again, I'll be forced to retaliate. I'll regret it for the rest of my life, but that won't stop me. I protect those I care for. But if you can't get yourself together enough to let us help you, and then attack those of us that try to reach out to you, then you're no better than a Hunter to me." Kousuke's angry gaze was boring into Ayumu's back now, almost a tangible weight. Under the anger in his voice, however, was just the slightest hint of hurt. Ayumu's fear of them seemed to bother him just as much as it bothered Rio. Perhaps more, since they'd been so closely connected before. 

"I couldn't help it," Ayumu protested quietly, and even to him it sounded like a weak excuse, even though it was very much the truth. "If you want to compare me to a Hunter, then so be it. But if you're going to do it, then you should treat me like you would any other Hunter." The brunette felt angry with himself for having so little control, for wanting retaliation and punishment for what he'd done. He'd been carrying that cross ever since the realization of what he'd done to the wolves hit home. 

Kousuke clenched his fists, trying to restrain his temper. "Don't give me that fatalistic crap. Do you think you're the only one hurting from this? I _love_ you, you stupid idiot! How do you think it makes me feel, to watch you try and hurt everyone I care about and know I'll have to do something about it? Did it ever occur to you that it hurts me to see you fighting this alone?!" He looked away, shaking with suppressed emotion. 

Ayumu felt steel biting into his palms, but he didn't dare let go, feeling like it was the only thing keeping him afloat right now. "It's not fatalistic! This isn't some kind of comparison over who hurts more! I'm sure it hurts you and it hurts Rio and it even hurts Eyes, but I don't have the room in my mind to think about it! I can barely see straight as it is when I get too close, and that's not how I ever wanted it to be! I wanted to help you, but I can't!" 

"Look at me, Ayumu." 

Fear took a chilling hold of him; the boy terrified that looking into those eyes after hearing the tone of his voice would send him over the edge. However, he didn't think he could live with himself if he didn't do it. Rio was right about him not wanting to be weak, even without mention of his brother. Uncurling the fingers of one hand, he slowly turned his face to Kousuke, still holding on with the other hand. It took a deep breath and steeled nerves to lift his tormented amber eyes to the green-gold ones that demanded his attention. 

There was anger, but it was an imperfect veil, with both worry and deep affection in those cat eyes. "We wanted to help you, too. Eyes and I felt your pain when it happened, and we wanted to help. But you were too far away, and it was all we could do just to stay sane. Now, we can try to help, only if you can be strong enough to let us close one more time. But if you can't do that, and just run away from everything, then there's nothing we can do. You'll end up losing control and killing one of us, and if it's not me, I'll end up killing you. I don't forgive Hunters, even if one is someone I love. But it all depends on you being as strong as we thought you could be." 

"Rio...says the desire to hurt you...isn't mine..." Ayumu annunciated the words very carefully, like he was trying to speak while deep in thought. "The strength that I thought I had I can't seem to find anymore, at least...not when I need it. But it always seems to be there when I can't control it. And that lack of control could be what hurts you, and if I brought that to your door and did something I would regret, then it would only make things worse." 

"It's triggered by your fear, not our proximity." Kousuke replied flatly. "Trust the empath on this. If you want to control it, it means facing those fears. And the only one who can fix you now is Eyes. So if you want to have full control of yourself, you'd better get your act together." 

Ayumu looked at his free hand, the grooves of the metal he'd gripped still fresh in his skin. There was no denying that he was trembling. "I can feel it, even now...the moment I heard your voice. I didn't fear your voice like this before...not even when you were really trying to kill me." 

"But now, you're suffering from having been tortured, and having it shoved down your throat that all of us will hurt you. Even if it's not rational, you're going to be scared. I've been tortured before, and I still can't stand up to a forceful woman, even years after. So now, you're scared of us all, because the pain's still there. And you can't make yourself believe that at this point, we would never hurt you." 

He hated it, the slow nod of his head in agreement. Yet he knew he couldn't lie. 

Kousuke sighed, shoulders slumping, expression still upset, but no longer quite so angry. "To heal, you have to have the will to take the steps towards recovery. When you can overcome your fear enough to get help, Eyes and I will be waiting. Until then, don't come near us. I'm not going to be responsible for my actions if someone else gets a set of bruises to match Rio's." 

"It probably... means nothing," Ayumu said, unable to hold the gaze any longer. He knew that he was wrong, whether he could help it or not. "...but I'm sorry." 

Kousuke shook his head. "Never mind. I'll just be glad when hatred doesn't hang over you like a black cloud. If you're going to hate, do it in private, where it doesn't give me nightmares that disturbs both mine and Eyes's sleep. He's beginning to get testy." 

Ayumu didn't know what to say to that, so he let it go. He had enough guilt to last him awhile and trying to justify that with an answer would probably be impossible. 

When it became apparent that no answer was forthcoming, Kousuke just shrugged and turned to walk back to the door leading to the stairwell. "When you manage to find your backbone, come see us. Ja." 

It hurt, there was no denying that. But maybe getting kicked in the face with the real source of the issue was all that the Little Narumi would need. By tonight, he would make his decision.

ooooo

Dinner was on the table before Madoka came home that night, some curry that didn't come from a box. Ayumu had come home from school and prepared the thoughtful meal from scratch, feeling that he owed it to his sister to do things right, especially with the way she'd tried to help him the day before and the way he hoped she'd help him tonight. He was seated in one of the chairs backward, straddling it, chin resting on his arms. 

Madoka usually came home with some sort of fanfare, whether it be cheerful or ticked off. Today seemed to be one of the former, as she popped in the door and smelled curry. "Ayumu! Your wonderful amazing talented sister is home!" 

"Wonderful, because her four-star chef of a little brother fixed her some dinner," he responded, which was a vast improvement from how he'd greeted her home yesterday. 

Madoka smiled a little to herself at that, coming in to flop down at the table, happily kicking off the high heel (high _hell_ was more like it) shoes to get comfortable. 

"Long day?" the boy questioned softly, motioning that she could dig in anytime. 

She did, with great gusto. "My boss is a dick, but that's old news. You?" 

He shrugged, knowing he wouldn't be able to go into to much detail without setting off all the big-sister alarms. "I guess you could say that" 

"Oh? What's up? You seem a little better from yesterday. Have you gone after the help you need, like I said?" 

"Kind of... Except that I think I was looking for it in the wrong place." He tilted his head, unsure of how much he could say and still remain vague. "It's just...difficult to accept that the right decision seems to be a lot scarier than the wrong one." 

"Of course it does." Madoka replied matter-of-factly. "After all, when you're vulnerable enough to need and seek help, you're opening yourself up to be twice as vulnerable to those that will help you. If they decided to hurt you, it would be twice as bad. But if they're people you can trust, it shouldn't matter." 

"How...do you know if you really trust someone, Madoka?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. He knew that he should be eating, but precious little got between him and truly deep thought. 

Madoka paused, also deep in thought. "Well, I'm guessing that there's different ways, depending on the person and the situation. For instance, the way I knew I really trusted Kiyotaka was in the way he smiled. It was so open an honest that I knew he wouldn't betray my confidences. Really, I think knowing whether you can trust someone or not is a mix of past experiences and gut feeling." 

Ayumu pondered that thought with a tilt of his head, thinking back to the dream last night. Even though the Huntress had seemed trustworthy, Rio's unexpected arrival prompted that feeling in his gut that said to go with her instead of Cassandra. It had probably saved his life, and the first past experience that came to mind with Rio was after he'd won the game by the train bridge. She was the first Blade Child that had told him to believe in himself, the first to begin making him listen. "I see..." 

"After that, it's a matter of being willing to trust someone. Sometimes, even with all the evidence in front of you that someone is trustworthy, a person can blind himself to that fact if he doesn't _want_ to believe it, either because of a grudge, pride, or plain old stubbornness." 

"How do you become...un-blind?" he wondered, lifting his head to look at her. 

Madoka shrugged. "In most cases, it's extenuating circumstances and having reality shoved in your face. Like when the one you _wanted_ to trust turns out to just be using you, and the one you _didn't_ want to trust ends up saving your butt. It happens a lot in my line of work." 

"That fits," he said without thinking. "And I think I got kicked with some reality this afternoon. I really don't have much of a backbone, do I?" 

Madoka chuckled. "Oh, you do. But it only comes out in certain situations. Mostly when someone you know is in danger, when Kiyotaka's name is brought up, or when you're truly angry." 

"That's not enough to survive," Ayumu admitted plainly. If Madoka didn't already know that, she surely must have suspected. "In this spiral, I'm either going to have the strength to hold on, or fall off in the spin. I'd rather not go for the latter." 

Madoka nodded. "Then you're going to have to call up that backbone of yours, and tell it to get its ass over to the forefront. And then, you need to go talk to whichever people you're talking about, who you obviously _want_ to trust so badly that you're asking me about it." 

"Yeah... I guess I'm not really one to ask for advice, now am I?" 

"Not really. Usually, I have to shove advice down your stubborn throat." Madoka agreed cheerfully. "And I'll do it again, if you don't get help. I don't like seeing you in depression. It ticks me off." 

"Food out of a box ticks you off, I'm not all that intimidated by that," Ayumu said with a mock glare in her direction. It bothered him that she mentioned him being depressed. He would admit to being moody, but not depressed. 

Madoka gave him a Look. "Okay, then be intimidated by this. Seeing you down like this annoys me, because I know I didn't raise you to whine and hide and run away. You're no coward, you're no fool, and I don't want to see you act like one. So you'll get the help you need or I'll tie your ears in a bowknot." 

He looked back at her and then nodded once. "Now _that _intimidates me." 

"Good. Because if that didn't work, I'd call up Hiyono and tell her that you secretly had a crush on her, but were too shy to say anything about it. Then I'd step back and let you deal with it." 

"Madoka!!" 

Madoka smirked. "All the more incentive to take the next steps, ne?" 

Ayumu nodded. "Yeah." 

"Good!" Madoka replied, "Now eat your curry, before I do."

ooooo

The building belonging to Eyes Rutherford was quiet. Most of the inhabitants stayed on the top three floors, with all the floors between those and the garage usually used as rental offices. Jhette, based in the basement, was mildly bored today. The most interesting thing he'd seen had been a bird that had flown in through an open window, and he'd had to end that rather quickly when Kousuke began watching it a little _too_ intently. The computerized Blade Child really wished he had something to do. Especially with the pall of gloom that had settled over everyone here. 

His thoughts were suddenly answered as he picked up motion in one of the building's security sensors. And it seemed that the breach was happening right in the garage where he was stationed. 

Jhette's attention immediately turned to that, watching with interest to see what or who it was. 

Ayumu had managed to get past the locks on the garage entryway, slipping in through the door after taking a suspicious look around. He closed it behind him and relocked everything, taking careful steps into the dimly lit area. So far so good. He hadn't felt comfortable announcing his presence to everyone by coming in through the front doors, so he'd found an alternate route that would allow him to make himself known when he was ready. 

Or maybe not. Jhette's image suddenly popped up right in front of him. "Identity of intruder confirmed as Narumi Ayumu. Please explain why you have entered through the garage and not the main entrance." 

Oddly enough, the darkness in his mind, the fear he'd been carrying, didn't seem to act up around Jhette. He just...wasn't _there_. There was nothing a hologram could do to affect him. 

Though the sudden appearance did startle him, and it was all he could do not to yelp as he took a step back. "I was...trying to sneak in," he admitted truthfully. "I just felt...safer that way." 

Jhette tilted his head, the still face somehow managing to look confused. "Where is the danger, when those inside will not seek to harm?" 

"Their intention to harm is the decision that I have to make for myself," Ayumu answered, feeling guilty for it, but if he was going to face his fears, he had to at least be honest about them. 

Jhette seemed to accept this, because he nodded and decided to ask a question of his own, one that had been bothering him ever since they had returned from England. "Narumi Ayumu...what is the current definition of 'fine'? My own dictionary has two meanings, one of something very high class or good quality, and one of a state of normalcy. But there must be some third meaning, because everyone here is sad, but when I ask about it, they say they are 'fine'." 

"The way that you're seeing it used is as a cover. Because asking someone how they are has become such a social pleasantry in today's society, one uses 'fine' as a pleasantry as well to keep from avoiding deeper detail into what they're really feeling. Sometimes, it's meant to avoid the conversation entirely, meaning that if you insist you're fine, one would have no reason to ask any further questions, right?" Ayumu shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Does that help?" 

Jhette thought about this, and looked concerned. "Riku says that once they've found a way to make me real, I'll be fine, too. I don't think I want to be fine, if it means I'm sad." 

That got Ayumu to smile, however grimly. "That's not the only thing it means. For you to be fine would be for you to have a tangible body, to know what the world feels like with your senses and not just what your databanks tell you." 

Jhette shrugged. "It is not so bad. My databases can tell me that you are sad, and that you are trying to face a lot by coming here. But...are you ready to be our Hope again?" 

"I...I don't know..." Ayumu sighed and lowered his head. "You could probably say that's why I'm here..." 

Jhette reached out, as if to actually touch him, then lowered his hand. "There are none here that would harm you. They need you, and they want you close. Your pain is theirs." 

To his own surprise, Ayumu didn't flinch back or feel fear that they almost 'touched'. That settled in his mind that at least Jhette was safe. So far, he was doing all right. "It was...hard to believe that. For awhile, all I could comprehend was that I would be destroyed by them. Not just the ones here, but all the Blade Children." 

Jhette tilted his head, processing that. "It is true, many Blade Children believe Fate is their only recourse, but that does not mean they wish to kill. It just means they believe they have no choice. It annoys them to see those that talk of fighting fate, because they are jealous. And those that actively promote Fate do not wish for them to think otherwise. So yes, there are those outside that would hurt you. But not here. Not in the place where Rutherford cries bright tears for your shattered soul, and Asazuki screams his heartbreak at your despair."

It wasn't easy to picture in his mind the thought of the stoic Eyes Rutherford crying, especially tears for him. He didn't think, however, that the computeristic mind that belonged to Jhette would or could lie to him about something so simple. As for Kousuke... _/"I love you..."/_ ...he still didn't know what to think about that. "So what you're saying is that you think I am safe here, regardless of what I feel in the back of my mind." 

Jhette nodded. "You are the Hope. The sanity of those living here depends on you. It would be foolish to let you come to harm." 

"Then that is why they are so upset?" Ayumu knew better than the superficial question, but in his time of insecurity, he was going to explore every shadow of doubt he had. "They are worried for their own safety?" 

The holographic brunette shrugged, neither offended nor concerned by such a question. "Do you not worry to your own hurt when someone you know is in danger? Just a little, in the back of your heart? What will happen if this person is no longer here for me? Will I still have a place in life? What will become of life as I know it? Everyone asks these questions, feels this way. It is human nature. So I cannot say that they do not worry for their own safety, for the Blade Children are human, no matter that their bloodlines are not from human stock, neither on maternal or paternal side. But the majority of their concern is for you." 

Ayumu thought about the answer for several long moments. Those questions that seemed like natural, survival instinct thoughts made a lot of sense. When Kanone had threatened Madoka's life, he was sure that those same things were going through his mind, even though he seemed focused on the situation at hand. He would have known that life as he knew it would change if she were no longer in it. "How do you know this?" He was asking about the last part, that their concern was for him more than it was for them. 

"I watch, observe, and pay attention." the other boy replied, the image shifting position, now sitting on the hood of the jeep that was his real body. He seemed to be attempting to appear real, wanting to put Ayumu more at ease. Probably because so many of the others were still twitchy around him. "They are sad, and they speak of little else than how to fix what Kanone has done. They show their care for you in many ways, from Riku proposing to go back and cause grievous bodily harm to him to Eyes working himself into exhaustion each night while practicing to control his new Gift. Besides, did not Kousuke already show his care of you, back when Hunter Samantha threatened your life if he did not surrender?" 

"I remember." The Hope didn't move to close any distance between them, nor did he move away. He settled a little more comfortably against the wall, crossing his arms. It helped that he did feel a little more at ease with Jhette than he might have with anyone else he would have come across first. That he acted normal in addition helped keep him calm enough for this conversation. "I suppose this makes me horribly ungrateful." 

"I do not know." Jhette replied honestly. "Hunter Samantha caught me the same way, threatening a friend, though I no longer remember the name or face. I _do_ know, however, that had I ever seen that friend again, he likely would have punched me for making the choice I did. Gratitude is not something that Blade Children count on, much. Not even those that are real instead of machines." 

"Yet, normal human beings don't return favors by trying to kill those that did the favor." He still felt guilty for what he'd done...or almost had done to Rio. The girl really had been only trying to help him, and his only reaction or response was the uncontrollable fear and anger. 

"It would depend on the situation. Otherwise, there would not be a debate on euthanasia. And in your case, it was perhaps unavoidable. Rio knew the danger of getting too close to you alone and unarmed, but she also felt that it was right to try and warn you of what had been done." 

"You know about what happened, then," It wasn't really a question. Ayumu was sure that Jhette was kept in the loop with everything. It would make sure that their security was as up to date as possible. Especially when one of the dangers could be the Hope himself. 

"Of course. Rio herself gave me the information, including the fact that Huntress Cassandra tried to reach for you." He shrugged again. "We will try our best, but even I have very little data on the Huntress." 

Ayumu nodded, not wanting to think about that. "I thought I had turned my back on everything. When I went home, I was so sure that I didn't want to be anybody's Hope. Yet, no matter how far I try to run away from it, try to live without it interfering, it still comes back. If not Rio trying to tell me what the damage was, then Hunters who still want me involved, but on the other side. No one seemed to understand that I wanted to be left alone, and I hated it." 

Jhette was silent for a moment, considering this. "If you truly wished for the others to leave you be and told them so, they would. Perhaps they do not say it, but it is there in the way they talk about you. I think they would give up their Hope, if the Hope did not wish to come to them. I know that at least one was not expecting to escape Fate, anyway. And...in the darkest recesses of my databanks, I remember that my mother had not counted on it, either. She was searching for a way to freedom without the Hope, I think." 

"So... they think that I still do want to be the Hope, even if I say I don't?" 

"They do not know. Nor have they approached you besides Rio, and that was only to warn you of what was wrong and offer help. If you think about it, none have asked you to take up the role of Hope again. As Eyes would say, it is your choice." 

"I'm scared to say yes," he admitted quietly, as if the thought of anyone knowing just how truly frightened he felt was embarrassing to him. He didn't want to say it too loudly. 

"And they are scared you will say no. But they'll face it if or when it happens. And if you decide to walk away, they will not chase you. They'll leave you alone to your high school life and your cooking, and hope you are happy there. And then we will all wait to see if our minds are lost or if there is another answer for us." 

To deny that such a thought was tempting would mean a lie to himself. Normal life had been safe and quiet, but it had also been frustrating and boring. The frustration had come from Kiyotaka, who just one day walked away to pursue something he never explained, leaving behind a wife who, no doubt, thought of him every day and wished for him to come home. And the boredom...well that was obvious. Ayumu was intelligent, to the point where it wasn't much of an effort to do things just so that the teachers wouldn't harass him. His grades were average, but that was only because there was no challenge to the work, so he put in the most minimal amount to get it by. 

The first time his mind had been thoroughly challenged had begun the day he and Hiyono had found the bomb in the theatre. True, he had solved Sayoko's 'accident' and the murder in the locked room, but that was nothing beyond solving a TV murder mystery. Having to figure out the number combinations by delving into histories that might have only been fascinating to him and Kiyotaka had been the first time he'd felt tired after figuring something out. From then on, it had been a challenge to stay alive, and he had never _felt _so alive before. Life without the Blade Children may have meant a certain amount of safety, but could he really go back to that mediocre existence and still be satisfied? He wasn't sure. 

"So... I'm still the Hope, even if I don't know if I'm capable of it?" 

"Only if you choose to be. Blade Children can't make hope for themselves, you see." Jhette tilted his head, his expression musing. "Have you ever considered what it is like to be a Blade Child, Narumi-san?" 

Ayumu remembered being told by Kousuke what it was like to be a Blade Child, what life day-by-day was. He had to admit that he couldn't make the comparison very well because he'd lived nothing like it. Human nature dictated that you can only accurately imagine that which you have experienced or come close to experiencing it. Only after he'd been Hunted, then captured, then brought home did he start to wonder who would come after him next, how close he would come to dying, and how much more he'd be hurt. "I haven't actually considered it, but the more I try, the more I think I have an idea..." 

Jhette nodded. "Let me try to make that a little more clear. Imagine, if you will, that you are a Blade Child. From the very moment of your birth, you know that there is something about you that is different from the children around you. You are far more intelligent, for one thing, and this isolates you, because normal children do not appreciate being faced with those that are smarter or more talented. Almost as soon as you can toddle and talk with some vestige of coherency, you are taught to kill, and told over and over that you are doomed to lose all that makes you an individual and kill everyone around you. You come to believe you are cursed, and that nothing can save you. And since you are cursed, you must be a bad person, no matter what you want or do. As you grow older, you find out that there are people out there who want to kill you, just because of what you are. You don't want to die, so you fight, but now you do not dare to keep anyone or anything close, because they could be killed or destroyed to get to you. You don't even dare love one of your own, because there are factions within the ranks of the Blade Children, depending on whether or not you are willing to at least try to escape Fate or not. The infighting is even more deadly than the Hunters, sometimes, and no one can be trusted. You grow up hardened, jaded, and alone. And then, your mother dies. You can't help but wonder, considering that you are cursed, if you had some indirect hand in that. So now, you are the one to blame for the death of the one person you dared to love at all. Some people around you whisper about there being a boy that can save us all, but you do not know whether your heart has room for such faith. You just know that in your daily life, the only rules are to keep your few friends close, and your enemies even closer. And if anyone attacks, kill without mercy or be the one to die. There is no room to even dream of having a future, because you've been told that Fate will consume you by the time you have reached twenty. So any passions you might have must be pushed to the wayside, or be destroyed when you lose yourself." 

Ayumu's next breath following the explanation was slow and deep. He didn't even have the bitterness to think that Jhette's words were an exaggeration. With the exception of how the few Blade Children he knew tried to live, he could honestly believe that everything was the truth. There were some times, in the beginning, where Ayumu would have thought that Eyes and Kousuke didn't trust each other, and the only reason they trusted Rio a bit more was because she was very good at what she did, appearing younger and hiding her lack of innocence. "It's different...yet somewhat the same when you're the Hope..." he whispered, also feeling truth in some of the things he'd felt that were similar to what Jhette described. 

Jhette nodded. "Those that dare to believe in the Hope take a large risk, but feel it is better than just quietly slipping away. At least, that is how I felt, when I was real. Now...I admit my own Fate is uncertain. I am not a living being, so perhaps my mind will remain for longer before being subsumed. Or perhaps I will simply be dismantled. I do not know. I suppose the uncertainty would scare me, were I still able to feel fear."

"I honestly don't know what to do," Ayumu said, lifting his head once more to look at the image that sat upon the machine. "For once, I've found a question I can't immediately answer or find logic to get to an answer. I feel guilty for leaving those that need me behind, yet those same could just as easily hurt me if they really wanted to. My insecurity wants me to say no so that I can try to be safe, but I've seen that even trying to separate myself from it still puts me in danger. My pride wants me to say yes because it would mean so much to me to do something that my brother couldn't. And then...there is the actual emotion involved that says that the people here are my friends, no matter how distant I become. And doing or not doing something that will hurt them...hurts me in return."

"Logic and facts are what make up the entirety of my existence, and you can see just how little I fully understand of everything with just those things." Jhette agreed. "Emotions, though I cannot fully comprehend them, are powerful things. I know it is the emotions that Eyes and Kousuke feel for you that give them the strength to willingly let you go." 

"I don't know if I want to be let go." Those words slipped free before he could stop himself. Being let go would mean that he would be alone again. Granted, he would have Hiyono and Madoka, but those two really didn't _need _him. They weren't connected to him in ways that even he didn't understand. They were important to him, but not in that deep, soul-touching way that he felt to the Blade Children as their hope. Eyes and Kousuke... they had both held him the first time he'd stopped the shadow of Fate, comforted him, and in their own way thanked him for being there. Perhaps it was true, that without him, they might become lost. They needed him, and somehow, he felt himself needing them. They justified his existence and his worth, first testing him in ways that no one had, and then coming to accept him and want him in ways that no one had. 

"None of us want to let you go, either." Jhette replied softly. "We failed to protect you once. How could we want to let you walk away, leaving us in a situation where we could never protect you again? You are friend to us all, and though I have not yet verified this, I believe you are beloved to some. So while we would honor your decision to leave, we would not be happy about it." 

"I thought, when this all began, that the primary focus was escaping Fate." Ayumu frowned and ran a hand through his hair, not really willing to meet Jhette's eyes when he asked the next question. "Do you...really think that all of you might feel the same if I wasn't the Hope? When all was said and done, if I couldn't create the Web, couldn't keep you safe, would you all still be as interested in protecting me and caring for me?" 

Jhette smiled. "Did the Blade Children abandon Kousuke or Rio when they failed to defeat you? Or when Rio had not escaped the Hunters and was used as bait? Did they even consider running out on Kousuke when Hunter Samantha took him away? Or leaving Riku and I to fend for ourselves when it was obvious that we could not defend against the outside world? No. And it is the same principal here. You have done all you could, and there would be no shame to failure." 

"Well, there would have been shame for me, but I'm stubborn like that. It must be a Narumi trait...Kiyotaka didn't settle for failure either." He sighed softly and crossed his arms again. "But you're right; they didn't really turn their backs on each other. In fact, from what I've seen, the few that are here act like a very..._strange_ family." 

"Yes. Right down to the sisters ganging up to bash on the annoying younger brother, and being very good for the older." Jhette replied, suddenly giving a grin, showing the last vestiges of what at one point might have been a broad sense of humor. 

"So, Hope or not, I am welcome here?" 

"I do not claim to speak for the others, but there is a 99.9968 percent chance that the answer is affirmative." 

"I...want to go in there as Ayumu Narumi, not the Hope, and see what happens. If they can accept me for the choice I can't make at this moment, there is more thinking I need to do. If they can't accept that I haven't made a choice, then that might just very well make the decision for me." 

Jhette nodded, and a screen suddenly appeared in midair, with several images on it. "Eyes Rutherford is currently in one of the first floor offices, arguing with his agent. Asazuki Kousuke is exercising on the twenty-first floor. Takeuchi Rio is in her room on the twenty-third, trying to activate the hidden cameras she put in Eyes's bedroom and shower, which I am summarily blocking. Sorashima Riku is in her room on the twenty-second, reading a book that you don't want to know the subject matter of. Any one of these four is open to visitors." 

"Thank you," Ayumu said, and he didn't just mean for giving him the location of the other Blade Children. He had no idea what would happen from this point on, but he felt like the talk with Jhette had helped him to have the courage to remain here to find out. 

Jhette nodded. "To assist is my purpose. No thanks are needed." 

"A thanks is always good between friends," Ayumu replied, turning to go to the elevator. 

"Even a computer?" 

"Even a person." 

"Negative," Jhette argued, "Program Jhette is not a person." 

Ayumu smiled very faintly. "Not yet." With that, he stepped into the elevator and headed up to the twenty-third floor. He had an apology to give. 

Rio's door had no signs on it that would ostensibly mark it as hers, but it was currently open a crack, and her frustrated cursing could be heard from inside. She'd been fighting with the wiring for the camera for hours, trying to get around Jhette's watchful eye, and so far, it hadn't worked. 

Ayumu approached after taking a deep breath, peering in the doorway to make sure it was her room and knocking gently. 

"Who is it?" she called, knowing it wasn't one of the people who lived with her. Kousuke never bothered to knock...in fact, made a point of _not_ knocking just to be a brat, and Riku's and Eyes knocks were both firmer. Jhette, of course, couldn't knock. So that eliminated everyone but a guest. 

"It's Ayumu." His tone was quiet, unobtrusive. He really didn't want to frighten her, and he already felt his breath hitch a little as he got close to an actual, tangible Blade Child. Her words echoed in his head...that those thoughts weren't him, and after the talk with Jhette, he had strengthened his resolve to see this visit without backing down or going nuts, if he could possibly help it. 

Rio's eyes widened and she turned to the mostly-closed door. "Little Narumi? Come in..." She wondered what he was doing here, and more, she wondered just how much courage it had taken for him to do so. She was glad that she'd chosen a high collar today, though. There was no need to shove the reality of her bruises in his face. 

Even if he couldn't see them, he knew they were there, and for some time to come, he would feel guilty that his hands had done such a thing. For now, the best he could do was offer a bit of a smile and nod his head, pushing his way inside. He didn't go very far in, for numerous reasons he wouldn't get too close just yet. He also didn't want to invade her space. "Are you... all right?" 

Rio looked at him for a long moment, still marveling over the fact that he'd even come to see her at all. And then she smiled. With her hair down and dressed in a comfortable lilac dress, the smile made her look her age, and it was remarkably beautiful on her normally childlike face. "I'm just fine, and getting even better with every day." 

That got Ayumu to smile just a little bit more. He was so used to seeing the more kid-like facade she kept up, and this was a rather pleasant change. "I'm glad. Rio... I'm sorry...for what I did to you..." His expression sobered, he wanted to get the hard part out of the way. It didn't look like she was holding grudges, but that didn't mean he couldn't resolve things the right way. 

Rio just shook her head, still smiling. "It's not your fault. If anything, my common sense has been yelling at me ever since for not kicking you in the shin, at the very least. I know ways of breaking holds without hurting the attacker, but I use them so rarely that I forgot about them in the heat of the moment. I got a really long lecture from both Kousuke and Riku for that." 

"The point is that it never should have happened to begin with. You were the last person on earth I should have been trying to kill," Ayumu responded with a shake of his own head. "You were trying to help me." 

"Yup. And I'm going to keep trying to help you, too. I don't like anyone telling me what I can or can't do, so if Kanone doesn't like the idea of me undoing his efforts, tough beans." 

"You were right, though...I don't think the fear is mine...not entirely..." 

Rio tilted her head, looking thoughtful. "Oh, the fear might be, sure. Kousuke went through something a little like what you did, once, and he was terrified of even me for a short while. What's not you is the need to deal with it through violence. You're really more of a 'reason it out' type." 

He nodded. "I agree with that. I didn't like..." He lifted his hands to look at them, as if there still might be evidence of the lives he took on them. "...having to kill just to get away. It just...happened..." 

Rio shrugged. "Self-defense, Little Narumi. It happens. From what we could see of your injuries, they weren't actively trying to kill you, but a person forgets that when faced with too much pain, and survival instincts kick in. The 'fight or flight' drive is as old as time itself." 

"I heard him say not to kill me," he mused, lowering his hands again. "But when I was out there...trapped... it felt close enough like I would die that I had to fight harder, do whatever it took to make sure that I didn't." 

Rio nodded. "And since Riku told me she'd seen a pack of okamijin and inu nursing their wounds on one of the lower floors, I'm pretty sure the option of flight was rather out of the question. So you just took the only other option open. That doesn't make you a bad person, Little Narumi. It just makes you human, like the rest of us." 

"Not every human kills, though...and I guess that's the part I have a problem with. If..Madoka knew... she's a cop, Rio. Murder is still murder..." 

"Even the police understand self-defense," Rio pointed out. "And as for killing, I'm going to assume you'd gotten a hold of a weapon somehow. For all that Kousuke smelled blood on you, you don't have the knowledge to kill bare-handed, and your nails aren't nearly long enough to be a fatal weapon. Would you have had such serious results if you hadn't managed to grab it?" 

Ayumu shook his head. "Probably not. One of the wolves that hadn't changed had a knife... when they jumped me, it fell on the ground." 

"There you go. It was chance, and that's all. My guess is that the wolves probably didn't expect you to be able to harm them, either. But it's likely they still expected you to fight them. It's not your fault. You were in a dangerous situation that might have become life-threatening, you were scared and in pain, and you acted accordingly. Even with what the telepath did to you, your actions can be explained and excused." 

"I can come to terms with that after time, but in your case, you were doing none of those things, and I still attacked you. That's the part that bothers me. It was completely irrational, yet I couldn't control myself." 

"That's the point of the...I'm really not sure what to call it. Eyes just refers to it as a shadow on your mind, and what Kousuke calls it isn't usually printable. But it was put there to keep you from ever setting up the Web ever again, because you have to be close to the ones that you bring in. If you can't or won't get close, then there's no Web, is there?" 

Ayumu shook his head. "I'm still afraid... I had hoped that none of you would be angry at me for not being able to make the decision right now. I don't know if I can say yes or no at this point." 

Rio thought about that for a moment, absently twining a lock of dove-gray hair around her finger, then nodded. "You're still our friend, and I personally am going to take the fact that you came here as a good sign. But you might want to at least talk to Eyes and Kousuke. Their moping has begun to get on my nerves." 

"I planned on talking to everyone, even if it's just a little bit," Ayumu admitted. "I just thought that you should be the first that I came to." 

Rio's smile broadened. "I'm flattered. I'd hug you, but I think we should leave that until after Eyes has taken a look at your head, ne?" 

Ayumu nodded. "Thank you for the consideration...and for not being angry at me anymore." He hated to admit it, but he didn't like it when she yelled at him. 

Rio sighed. "You're welcome. And night before last...I wasn't angry, Little Narumi. Or at least, not entirely. What I was was scared."

"Sometimes, I feel like nothing can scare you..." 

Rio chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment. But a lot of things scare me, Little Narumi. Even just living scares me, sometimes. The secret to my success is just that while I acknowledge the fear, I don't let it rule me or stop me from doing things that have to be done." 

"I suppose that's my moral lesson for the day," he said with a shake of his head. 

"Moral lessons are important. They keep us from getting so annoying that everyone around you throws you into traffic." Rio replied impishly. 

"Good point," Ayumu agreed. "So are we still friends then?" 

Silver-gray brows raised in an expression of astonishment. "When did we stop?" 

"Just making sure." 

Rio chuckled and turned back to the computer and tangles of wire on her desk. "Well, now that you're sure, go and free me from the sufferings of the mopers, would you?" 

Ayumu gave a long-suffering sigh and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine fine! I'll take care of it. Though I think I should let Eyes get done reaming his producer first." 

"His agent, actually. Something about a charity concert based in an all-girls high school." 

"I can see why he'd have objections." 

"Hai. Especially since it's in America, where they're a bit more..._enthusiastic_ about their admiration." Rio chuckled, trying once more to get past Jhette to set up her hidden cameras.

"Let's hope he can talk his agent out of sending him there." Ayumu turned to the door, but then paused. "By the way, Rio..." 

"Hm?" Rio murmured, her attention already mostly taken up by her pet project. 

"You said that you knew how to get out of a hold without really hurting someone...does that mean you know how to fight? I mean...without the bombs?" 

"Mm-hmm." Rio replied, looking up at him. "I'm a black belt in several things, including karate, tae kwon do, and judo. It runs in my mother's side of the family, it seems. Tengu are known for being the creators of the martial arts, after all." 

"Maybe...maybe you could teach me? You know...something to defend myself if something...else should happen..." He felt really strange asking a girl for help in fighting, but if someone had a black belt in anything, it meant that gender really wasn't an issue. They were just that good. 

Rio gazed appraisingly at him for a moment, then smiled and nodded. "That's probably a very good idea, though I'm sure there will be times where you'll regret ever asking me. You might also consider asking Kousuke for knife fighting or street fighting." 

"I'll see about that. Thank you, Rio."

Rio nodded and turned back to the wiring. "And tell Jhette to let me into the system. I know he can hear us up here, and maybe he'll listen to you. This yaoi fangirl needs her eye candy, dammit!"

"I'll do no such thing. Next thing you know there'll be wiring in my bathroom, and then you'll never let me live it down when you catch me singing in the shower." with that, he was off to find Kousuke. 


	22. Chapter 22

Title: The Epic

Chapter: 22/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Notes: Blame Kyo-chan! A month of constant work makes her too tired or lazy to edit and beta. But we're BACK!

Summary: Kousuke and Eyes chase away one demon, but more lurk around the corner.

ooooo

Kousuke was on the twenty-first floor, which had been converted to be a single large room dedicated to whatever type of physical training the occupants might need. There was a weapon's rack next to the door, along with a shelf for towels and first aid supplies, and a sink next to that, complete with soap and cups. The opposite wall was nothing but large windows facing out onto the city, and the walls perpendicular were both covered in mirrors. Half the floor was covered in a thick blue mat, and the other half was a bare wooden floor. Kousuke was currently on the wooden half, not so much exercising as using two daggers to become a whirling blaze of death, the sun glinting off the blades and the light sheen of sweat on his shirtless body.

Ayumu stood in the doorway when he found it, hanging back for more than one reason. For starters, he'd never seen Kousuke quite like that before, always having known he was dangerous, but never getting to see it in such a grand display. His eyes were riveted to the way his body never seemed to falter, the way his muscles moved under toned skin, hands so very much a blur. And then there was the danger that he represented. For all intents and purposes, Kousuke was still a killer, and that reality made Ayumu stay where he was, that strange twinge of fear starting in his gut. He hated it, for it had barely reared its ugly head when he was talking to Rio...

It was making itself known now, especially when Kousuke realized someone was in the room with him and he didn't so much stop as go still, like a hunting cat on the prowl, slowly turning to look at Ayumu with green-gold eyes that were glowing with the light of the setting sun. The expression was that of startlement, but the shadows in Ayumu's mind took them as predatory, in both sexual and nonsexual meanings. The urge to kill was suddenly a scream within his mind.

The younger boy couldn't help the gasp that was forced through his lips, amber eyes suddenly wide with the slam of emotions. He couldn't even reason with the darker ones like he had before because they came down on him so heavily and so suddenly. A dark flush rose to his cheeks, and he took a step back, hearing an apology come from his own voice that was a raspy whisper. He didn't know if he was apologizing for something he'd done, or something he might do, but it was the only thing he could do when everything else was falling apart. _I should leave...before I ... before...  
_

_Kill!_ screeched the voice in his mind, blocking out almost all conscious thought. _Kill before the pain begins again!  
_

That step back was coupled by two steps forward. Kousuke represented danger...danger to Ayumu, especially since he didn't seem to care about what the Hope wanted or didn't want. The thoughts that had kindly settled in his mind during his talks with Rio and Jhette couldn't seem to be found, and it only added to the frustration. The smaller voices that said he was here to give them a chance not hurt them were becoming swiftly drowned out by that killing instinct. His eyes were still wide, the pupils small now, making his eyes burn copper in the sunlight, the look not quite there. His breath came out in soft pants, as if the thoughts and fears put a physical strain on him as well.

Kousuke could sense the fear and the slightly-off feeling that he knew was artificial. And it was getting worse. If he didn't do something, Ayumu would probably end up doing something that ended with somebody's blood on the floor. So Kousuke grit his teeth and decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak. He gave a great leap, suddenly very glad that he was part cat, and landed just behind Ayumu. Then he took tight hold of him, pinning his arms.

"There's nothing I can say that will persuade you," he growled, enveloping the brunette in his Gift and pulling them both into the place where the Web had once stood, "so I'll show you instead! Search through my soul, Ayumu! If you can find anything in there that makes you think I could _ever_ harm you without due cause, then you can do whatever you want! Kill me, hate me, mind blast me until I'm a fucking vegetable, I don't care! But you _will_ do this!"

And with a wrench of his shields, he opened himself completely to Ayumu.

Ayumu fought almost violently in Kousuke's tight embrace, his own growling sound rumbling deep in his throat. The words floated to him as if they had to get through screen, distant yet reaching him. He let out a snarl of rage as he felt himself forcibly being dragged back to the ruins of the Web. He hadn't been ready...all they cared about were themselves! The darkness within his mind throbbed like a brewing storm, finding a playground in the open expanses of Kousuke's bared mind. It was like the dream about Fate, with a slight twist, that corruption in the younger Narumi's mind bleeding out to reach that Blade Child which had left himself defenseless.

_Oh no, you little bastard. You're not fouling this up..._ came Kousuke's voice, but it wasn't directed at Ayumu. Warm crimson trails of the Blade Child's gift appeared, twining around the corruption that was so alien to the rest of Ayumu's nature, gathering it together in order to isolate it and immobilize it. _Ayumu is the only one welcome here. Not you.  
_

Behind the darkness was a soft golden glow, that which was Ayumu's own true nature and soul, small against the opposition that the corruption made. It tried to reach past the evil thoughts, the need to kill, but the safety measures that had been taken to keep him imprisoned took hold. Pulsing under the red tendrils, it beat like a thunderous heart, feeding from Ayumu's fear and sending it back outward in an explosion against Ayumu's spirit and Kousuke's. The brunette screamed and thrashed against Kousuke, that desperation to get away from the resulting pain overwhelming him. With both of them battered, the darkness reached out for the redhead once more.

Kousuke grit his teeth and held against the pain and Ayumu's physical struggles. He'd known this would be dangerous, even before he'd known he was going to try. He was an empath, and not suited to getting rid of telepathic damage. He tightened his mental hold, but knew that he didn't have the ability or strength to keep it back much longer. And when that happened, it would be a choice of letting go, which would most likely result in Ayumu killing him, or to use the secondary ability to absorb the darkness, which would put the madness in his own mind. It went without saying what would happen to him in the latter case, with the shadows so strongly geared towards killing the nearest Blade Child. But at least the second way meant that only he got hurt, and Ayumu was safe, so that would likely be his choice. But only if he couldn't reach a certain someone... _EYES!  
_

Eyes had just barely escaped his agent, having lost a very tiring argument over the next concert date. That was immediately forgotten as Kousuke's panicked voice slammed into his mind. He staggered against the elevator wall and pressed a hand to his head. He was about to mentally ask what was going on, but the moment he made the connection to Kousuke's mind, he didn't have to. In seconds, he could feel Ayumu's damaged mind and the darkness that threatened to overtake Kousuke's. His fingers frantically pressed the floor number again, in a desperate hope it would make the lift go faster. His Gift opened wide as if it knew it didn't have time to wait until Eyes's body reached the other two. Bracing himself with one hand on the slender brass rail that went around the inside of the elevator car, he focused his attention on the very obvious shape of darkness.

With Eyes there to deal with the actual tampering, Kousuke turned some of his attentions to shielding Ayumu from the pain. _Go,_ he whispered to that gentle golden light, _we'll protect you. Please do what I asked.  
_

The rest of his attention and powers stayed on the dark shadows of corruption, however. Even with Eyes there, the defenses on it seemed to almost give it a life of its own, striking out at everything that got near it, trying to slip free to destroy Kousuke's bared mind and soul.

Now that the three of them were there together, drawn so deeply into the world of their minds, their bodies no longer responded to them. All of their concentration was turned inward, giving their souls shape. Ayumu's terrified face could be seen in the soft glow as he tried to move past the cloud of darkness that Kousuke held back like a curtain. A silvery being appeared before them both, Eyes's mind locked on them now. _It'll be all right... _He held out his hand for Ayumu to take, and the boy hesitantly stared at it a moment. _There is no time to doubt, unless you want to live with this fear for the rest of your life. Come.  
_

Ayumu's brow creased, and he took Eyes's outstretched hand, clasping it tightly. The musician pulled Ayumu past the darkness, almost throwing him to the open doorway that consisted of Kousuke's soul. Without waiting to see if Ayumu ventured the rest of the way in, Eyes dove into the darkness, letting it swallow him almost entirely as he began to fight it.

Kousuke moved himself to block the way Ayumu had went, and worked with his empathy to separate the mental tempering from its anchors in Ayumu's pain and fear. That much at least, he could do. The rest, he would have to leave up to Eyes. He forced himself not to think about the terrifying fact that Ayumu was in his soul. Even without this disgusting construct there to goad him, the brunette could easily hurt him if he found something that he didn't like.

However, true to the nature that they had all come to expect from Ayumu, his presence in Kousuke's soul was warm. He looked, but not too much, pressed for certain answers, but not too hard. Kousuke had offered him something special, and it had to be treated as such.

When the anchors were severed, the construct writhed as if it were in pain, and Eyes gave a yelp from the inside. It hurt to feel it fighting so hard, but he held on, finding the core of the corruption and tearing at it with his Gift. The defenses that the other telepath had placed on it were good, almost better than Eyes's own rushed skills. But with Kousuke there to uproot it from the outside, he was able to tear at it from the inside.

With the core of it gone, the rest of the shadow soon thinned, then faded altogether as Eyes ripped it apart and erased it from Ayumu's mind, leaving the brunette free to think clearly for the first time in over a week.

Now that the danger was over, Kousuke wasn't paying much attention to anything but the warmth within himself. It was still a little unnerving to have allowed someone this deep into himself, but it was someone he loved and trusted, and that was reflected in the soul Ayumu was faced with.

Ayumu very lightly touched those emotions with his spirit, and his very faint smile could be felt thrumming gently against Kousuke's mind. With that last exploration, the boy withdrew, having seen all that he needed.. and perhaps a little more.  
When the last of the shadows disappeared around Eyes, his image was more faded than Kousuke's or Ayumu's. _Tired..._

Kousuke gave a chuckle that sounded almost as worn, closing his soul again with certain sense of relief. While his spiritual form was not faded like Eyes's, it was a little blurred around the edges. _We're on the exercise floor, if you want to say hello. Otherwise, you should just head to bed. I'll probably be there soon myself.  
_

_I think I'm in the elevator...not sure what floor I'm on anymore...  
_

Ayumu slipped past them, back where he belonged in his own mind, turning back to look at them. _Thank you...  
_

_Hey, what are sick bastards for, other than ruining the plots of evil bastards? And Eyes, if the doors open to some place where there's a yellow brick road and flying monkeys, start worrying._ With that, he pulled out to his own body as well, opening his eyes. During the struggle, he and Ayumu had fallen to their knees, but the redhead still had a tight hold on him.

Ayumu was panting softly against him, but he was no longer struggling to get away. Instead, it felt like Kousuke were supporting him, the boy needing something to lean against while he regained his senses. His eyes opened slowly, and he gave himself a moment to just breathe, waiting to see if something triggered in his mind because he was still so close to Kousuke. When nothing happened beyond a mild trepidation at being held so tight and fighting that which threatened his mind only moments ago, he knew that things had changed for the better.

Before he had a chance to say anything, Eyes stumbled to the doorway looking quite exhausted, but he had the faintest smile on his face. "I guess I'm still in Kansas then, aren't I?"

Kousuke gave a weary grin back, trying to sit up a little more, but too tired to do much. "Even better, you're here. Care to join the group sprawl?"

Eyes made his way carefully into the room so that he wouldn't ruin his dignity by falling flat on his face on the way to the other two. "You and I need to have a talk, Kousuke," he murmured, a tiny bit of warning in his tone.

Ayumu looked up at the other Blade Child, again waiting to see if the panic would set in, but at best, he was only still nervous and unsure. He was pretty sure that was an improvement over a murderous rage, so he didn't complain.

Kousuke picked up on that warning, and winced. He was in for it now. "In my defense, I have to say that it wouldn't be a good idea to beat me to a pulp while Ayumu's in my arms. He might object."

"You know I'll do no such thing," Eyes said, kneeling down next to them. He took a firm hold of Kousuke's ear, tugging his head a little. "But the next time you have plans on doing something that dangerous, let me know _before_ you do it. Who knows what would have happened to either or both of you if I hadn't been close enough or had my shields down to hear you."

"Owowow! C'mon, Eyes, I didn't have a choice! It would've ended up in bloodshed if I'd waited! There wasn't any time to warn you...hells, or even warn myself, really!"

Eyes let out a soft sigh, glancing between Ayumu and Kousuke. He finally let go of the redhead's ear, settling where he was with them. There was no hurry to get back upstairs, they had a relative amount of privacy where they were. "I just don't like thinking about how close you cut it. If there had been something obstructing me...or if my shields had been higher..."

Kousuke pouted, slightly put out by the ear pulling. "Like I said, Ayumu was about to lose it. It was either take a risk or try to deal with him attempting homicide in a room where the shelf is full of knives, guns, and one of your spare swords. And at least the way I did it, the only one in danger of getting hurt was me."

The Englishman nodded, as if to say that he understood, and Kousuke didn't need to argue his case anymore. Truth be told, if he had been in the same situation, he might have reacted that spontaneously as well. It was all in the way they survived, and instinct definitely played a large role. If Kousuke's gut told him to go with that plan, it only made sense that he followed it; Eyes couldn't really blame him for that, even though he tried. "It's all right."

"It better be. I don't see how this is all that different from the times where you've run into danger and scared us all to death." Kousuke huffed, shifting Ayumu a little and rubbing the brunette's back. He could still sense some anxiety, and hoped to soothe it a bit with that gesture.

"I never ran into danger, Kousuke, you know that. I merely strolled into it."

Ayumu blinked several times, glancing between them in only very slight movements of his eyes. He almost yelped and put up a protest as Kousuke moved him, until he felt the gentle caresses against his back. It was much the way Madoka had held him the other day, and that feeling that he was going to break like thin glass crept up on him. He couldn't stop the first few tears that made their escape, and after that, it was pointless to hide the rest. Turning his head to hide it in the crook of Kousuke's neck, his body shook lightly with the tears he'd been holding back for days.

Kousuke's retort was forgotten when Ayumu broke down. The redhead's eyes widened with shock and worry as he froze for a second, but he soon relaxed, and his eyes softened and warmed. He reached up to run his other hand through the younger boy's soft brown hair, turning his head to murmur reassurance.

Any disagreement that Eyes had with Kousuke's course of action had melted away by now, lost to the needs of the boy they'd equally saved this day. He moved in closer, joining the redhead in holding Ayumu close. In its own way, the crying scared him too, for what he knew of their Hope, he likely never would have liked letting anyone see him this vulnerable.

Kousuke knew that too, and that was why he made no comment on the tears past the soft murmurs that everything would be okay and encouraging Ayumu to cry himself out. Besides that, he just stuck to the gentle touches to the boy's back and hair, holding him between the warmth of his bare chest and the coolness of Eyes's leather vest and bare arms.

They had been right in their assumptions, the younger teen hating that he'd broken down like this in front of them. If he felt weak before, he certainly felt it now. He would never have been able to combat the construct that lived in his own mind, and now it was that much worse that he cried all over the two that had saved him. But he couldn't stop, and with Kousuke's encouragements, he started to think that he didn't have to. If Jhette was to be believed, even Eyes had cried for him. Crying for himself couldn't be so bad, could it? "I...I'm sorry..." he whispered.

"Don't worry about it," Kousuke assured, his tone quietly cheerful. "You should have seen me after Eyes got me home from that Hunter's lab. One gentle touch, and I was bawling."

"Not...just for this... for everything..."

"If nothing else, Little Narumi, this has proven that those circumstances were far beyond your control," Eyes murmured quietly in response before Ayumu could protest any further.

Kousuke nodded. "This whole mess can pretty much be attributed to one sucky uncontrollable circumstance after another, all piling up like a garbage heap in high summer. Not too much of a problem in its components, but when combined forming a huge problem that bothers everyone for miles."

"How... poetic..." Eyes said with a teasing laugh.

"I second that," Ayumu agreed.

"Shut up," the redhead chuckled, sticking his tongue out at his lover, "I tell it as I see it. If you don't like it, date a poet."

By then, Ayumu had calmed some, and he sat up, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand. "I...guess Madoka was right. I went to the only place I could... I'm...sorry it couldn't be sooner."

"The time for apologies is done. Let it go, Ayumu."

The brunette looked as if he'd protest, but the sincere look on Eyes's face persuaded him to leave it be.

Kousuke's own assurance was more catlike than Eyes's. Purring loudly, he nuzzled at Ayumu's neck in a very kitten-like fashion. Despite any worries Ayumu may have had on the subject, there was nothing sexual about the gesture. It was just a case of rarely-shown good natured affection.

It made the boy laugh softly through his tears, making motions as if to shoo him away, but they weren't serious. The nuzzling just tickled. For the moment, Ayumu was done crying, and he took a deep breath. "This...has been the weirdest couple of months in my life."

"You think it's been status quo for us?" Kousuke asked, his eyes lighting up a little bit at the laugh. That had been the first one he'd ever heard out of Ayumu. _So he's ticklish, hmm?_ His hands twitched, the temptation almost too much to bear.

Eyes gave him a look, as if he knew exactly what the other was planning to do. "It certainly hasn't. You can certainly make quite a storm of things, Little Narumi," he teased.

"Me?! Might I remind you _who_ started this whole mess?"

"Sonobe?"

"Good point."

"Hmph. Served the bastard right, going after the one Blade Child who's utterly helpless." Kousuke huffed. "Cowards like that don't deserve to live."

Ayumu nodded. "I agree, as much as I don't like killing. He never should have gone after Sayoko."

"Well, the idiot made a bunch of mistakes. One was that he tried to kill her in the same school you went to. The second was involving you in it by trying to set you up. And the third was underestimating you, even though he knew who you were. Dumb people die. It's simple Darwinism. Just because I happened to appear at the hospital to help that along a little..."

"If you ask me," Eyes piped up nonchalantly, "it was an attempt on the Hunters' part to see if the story about Kiyotaka's younger brother was true as well. After all, Ayumu was just as much an enigma to them as he was to us."

Kousuke snorted. "I don't credit Sonobe with that kind of intelligence. But I will agree that the other Hunters probably used the situation for just that." Meanwhile, temptation finally overcame both good sense and Eyes's warning looks, and the redhead started tickling the young brunette in his arms.

Ayumu let out a yelp and was immediately struggling to get away or stop those hands. Eyes wisely backed away, wanting nothing to do with their little tussle, which was exactly what it was turning into.

Kousuke held on, tickling unmercifully. He wanted to hear more of Ayumu's laughter, and he had to admit that the Hope was cute when flustered.

Eyes was just as enchanted, watching the boy fight back almost fruitlessly, his cheeks flushed, lips parted in uncontrollable laughter. It was a welcome change from the solemn, almost dead look he'd been seeing briefly since their escape from Kanone.

Kousuke grinned and finally let him go, watching in amusement as the brunette immediately moved out of reach. His own soft chuckles blended with the last of Ayumu's. "You're cute when you laugh. You should do it more often."

"You think I...like the idea... of being cute...?" Ayumu said between gasps as he tried to catch his breath.

"Whether you do or not isn't the issue, Little Narumi," Eyes said, giving his own slight smile.

"And when you laugh, Eyes smiles. It's a definite bonus for me." Kousuke added, pushing himself to his feet to retrieve his shirt from where he'd stuffed it onto the shelf with the towels.

"You need to eat," Ayumu said bluntly, watching Kousuke as he went to get the shirt.

Kousuke blinked at him, confused. "Huh? Why?"

Ayumu sat up straight, crossing his arms and looking very much put out. "Because I'm going to guess that you haven't eaten a whole lot since you got back from the Hunter's, and it shows. I can almost start counting ribs, and you're a little paler than you used to be. Malnourishment. Rutherford, don't you feed him?"

"Now look, Eyes is _not_ my nursemaid...!" Kousuke sputtered, feeling oddly embarrassed about the situation.

Eyes frowned, and his displeasure at realizing what Ayumu was saying showed in his gaze. He wasn't angry, not necessarily. After all, he had been too busy to notice, and Ayumu probably would have poked at him for being too thin, but Eyes was used to it on himself. "It is true, I'm not. I leave plenty in the house for him to eat, but it's his choice to do so."

"Not anymore," Ayumu said firmly. "I'm going to borrow your kitchen." He got to his feet, dusting himself off as if he were removing evidence that he'd been thoroughly tickled.

"But I'm fine!" Kousuke protested. "I'm not hungry much, is all. And besides, when I eat too much, I feel sick! Throwing up is not my idea of fun and excitement!"

"That's why you have to take it slow! Of course you're not going to feel hungry after you've gone without eating for awhile." Ayumu crossed his arms. He remembered when Madoka had gotten sick; she hadn't eaten much and had to start out with small meals and work her way back to a queenly appetite.

Kousuke huffed, tugging his shirt back on...a shirt that was baggy and easily hid his weight loss, one could note. "I ate an apple this morning," he muttered sulkily.

"Then you'll have more for dinner. Not too much though because you don't want to be sick.." Ayumu rubbed his chin, already in thought as to what he'd make for dinner.

"Which will promptly be stolen by Rio," Kousuke replied, running a hand through his messy red hair. He glanced unhappily over at Eyes. "And I suppose you're not going to do a thing to discourage him?" he asked, nodding towards the brunette. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, he had to admit that he knew he hadn't been eating enough. But his own cooking skills were limited, and he hadn't known how to make mild foods, generally preferring dishes more flavorful, but not acceptable for how touchy his stomach had gotten.

"Why should I?" Eyes asked with a bit of a shrug, also getting to his feet with the other two. "After all, he is right, and just like I'm not going to stop you from not eating, I'm not going to stop him from helping you try to eat."

Kousuke gave him a suspicious look, wondering if perhaps the main reason Eyes didn't argue was that this way, he didn't have to break his own image as the stoic one to play mother-hen. He already knew that the reason he hadn't mentioned anything about Kousuke's lack of appetite was simply because, much as the redhead loved and adored him, Eyes was totally oblivious to the details of everyday life when puzzling over a larger problem.

Eyes did feel guilty about that detail in his attention span, especially when someone else managed to point out the obvious before he discovered it for himself. That it involved Kousuke and his health didn't make him happy, and he also felt bad that he hadn't noticed.

Kousuke, now quite adept at reading the tiny movements that passed as expression on Eyes's pale face, reached over and gave a light tug on a lock of silver-white hair. "Don't stress about it. You are who you are, and if you had been totally perfect, I would have felt too outclassed to stay close. Besides, normally in situations where you see me without clothes, I don't give you too much time to take much notice of anything outside a certain range."

At that, both Eyes and Ayumu blushed.

"You didn't quite need to put it into that much detail..." Eyes protested.

Kousuke gave a slightly evil cackle. "Like I said before, I tell it as I see it. If you want something different, date a poet. Besides, you both look hot when blushing, and I'm enough of a selfish bastard to be perfectly willing to do what it takes to get that gratification."

Ayumu coughed. "I should...get started on dinner..."

Kousuke glanced at him, and the wide grin faded a little. "You really don't have to do this, you know. It's not like you're required to pay me back or anything."

"This has nothing to do with paying you back. Therefore, I'm doing it anyway," Ayumu insisted.

The redhead sighed, but gave up arguing, just bending down to pick up the two daggers he'd dropped when Ayumu had started freaking out. He put them back in the hidden pockets of his shirt, never one to walk around without some sort of weapon on hand. "Fine. I suppose we should all just head to the kitchen, then. I'll try to keep Rio from mobbing you, but no promises."

"If that fails, then I will make sure she doesn't get in the way," Eyes said. "Usually there's plenty left for everyone, she should have nothing to complain about."

Ayumu quietly nodded, thinking that it was a good sign when he didn't feel that head-rush of fear when he realized that Kousuke was still armed. Somehow, without the construct within his mind, he knew that those weapons weren't meant to threaten him.

"The only thing I'm complaining about is how she goes into throes of ecstasy with each bite. It's creepy." Kousuke replied lightly, wandering towards the elevator.

"Hiyono does it too," Ayumu said with a long-suffering sigh. "It must be a girl thing."

Kousuke snickered. "Yeah, but I expect her to act crazy. Seeing it in someone who pretty much amounts to a little sister, one who's supposed to be sane, is not a comforting thing." He jabbed the button of the elevator.

Ayumu raised an eyebrow. "You would consider Rio sane? I know she's not as bad as Hiyono, but she's at least as crazy as you are."

Kousuke pretended to be insulted. "She is not! I'll have you know I work very hard at being the craziest bastard in this building! Rio's the sanest one of us, next to Eyes."

"I'll take your word for it."

The elevator made a soft ding as it reached their floor, and the doors slid open with a whoosh. Eyes was the first to get inside, settling against the back wall and crossing his arms. Ayumu followed him in next and leaned against the adjacent wall.

Kousuke entered last, and just settled down cross-legged on the floor. He was tired after first an hour of exercise and an epic battle for Ayumu's sanity. Sitting down seemed really good right now.

"We're not that far from our floor," Eyes pointed out, yet as the doors slid closed, no one had made a move to push the button yet.

"So? I'll take what I can get. With all the crap that's happened, starting with getting dragged off to be made into the newest Frankenstein's monster, I'm still exhausted most of the time."

"That's why you should eat...you'd get more energy..." Ayumu said, his tone almost sing-song and under his breath.

Eyes snickered behind his hand.

"And promptly have to waste it on feeling ill." Kousuke replied without missing a beat, rolling his eyes. "And I already said that I don't consider that much fun." Kousuke absently wondered if he should attempt to run. Ayumu and Eyes were beginning to gang up on him.

"And I already told you that if you do it the right way, you won't feel ill. Trust me on this."

_What are you looking at me like that for? I didn't say anything,_ Eyes's mental voice reached Kousuke, and there was the slightest trace of amusement in it.

_You don't have to. I can read everything from the evil little smirk on your face._ Kousuke sighed, looking put-upon.

_Can you now? You shouldn't take it so personally... be glad that he's looking after you and not trying to kill you. You saved him.  
_

_Yeah, but I would have done that anyway. He doesn't need to go out of his way like this._ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blunted throwing needle, and tossed it at the button for the 23rd floor. The needle pressed the button, and the redhead caught it as it came back down and put it in his pocket again.

_Maybe he wants to. He said it had nothing to do with paying you back...  
_

Ayumu watched the two of them, wondering if he was missing something. It was as if they were talking, but weren't saying anything. Perhaps it was Eyes and the telepathy that Rio said he had. "You know, it's impolite to tell secrets in company," he murmured nonchalantly. It was an attempt at a tease, but sounded a little solemn, as if he felt left out.

Kousuke looked over at him and gave a slight grin. "Well, you used to be able to hear us, but that was when..." He stopped suddenly, unsure if mentioning the Web right now would be seen as pushing.

Ayumu knew exactly what Kousuke was going to say, and he wondered if it was a good sign that he felt guilty when he realized that what the redhead was saying was the truth. He could hear them before, and it hadn't been all that frightening before Kanone. Strange, but not all that scary. Now...there was just the silence of his own thoughts. "I'm sorry..."

"There is nothing to be sorry for," Eyes said, looking at the brunette sincerely. "No one here blames you for your decisions."

Kousuke nodded his agreement. "I was actually kind of surprised that you didn't barricade yourself in your apartment. I would've." The redhead reached up, just tall enough from a sitting position to hit the stop button again. This needed to be talked about, and the elevator was probably best for privacy.

"You say that as if I didn't try," Ayumu muttered, glancing at the number pad, then back at Kousuke as the elevator slid to a stop. They were between floors now, and he was doing his best not to feel trapped. "But Hiyono was right, I can't finish school from my bedroom, and Madoka would have broken in eventually."

Kousuke snickered at the mental image. "Sounds like this lady is even scarier than Hiyono in some ways. Remind me to never meet her."

"I think you'd like her, actually. She's probably just as evil as you are."

"Heh. Either that, or we'd kill each other on sight. Competition and all that." Kousuke's smile faded, turning back to the more serious matters. "But what about you? Are you okay?"

Ayumu fixed an unsure golden gaze on him, as if he wasn't sure how to answer that question. "Considering I just got my senses back no less than twenty minutes ago, that's hard to say. I mean... It's good to finally think on my own, I just...don't know _what _to think."

"And you can't just ask us, because there is the fact that we might be just a _tad_ biased on certain things," he sighed.

"You want me to...be the Hope again..."

"You will always be hope to us, Little Narumi," Eyes said, lifting his gaze to the brunette. "Whether you decide to reopen the Web or not, there's always the reality that, even for a little while, you represented Hope to us. We can keep fighting after seeing that kind of promise."

"We're not going to force you if you really don't think you can handle this anymore." the redhead agreed. "If you decide to walk away, no one's gonna blame you, and none of us will stop you. You're too special to us to do that."

"It was never about whether I wanted to or not," Ayumu admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I hated being thrown into it. Kiyotaka never warned me about what I was, and then all of a sudden people were out to kill me? I can understand the tests, but you have to understand that attempted murder isn't what I'd call an engraved invitation. And then after Kanone, whether it was the construct or not, I resented being Hope to anyone except myself. I still...want to be that strong...to do something right."

Kousuke gazed at him a moment, and his eyes softened a little in understanding. He levered himself up to his feet and walked over to Ayumu, and gathered him into his arms. "You already are, and you already have, on tons of occasions. I'd be dead if you weren't."

Ayumu stiffened in his arms, unused to being embraced by anyone except maybe Madoka. Even Hiyono managed to hold back more often than not. But he made no move to pull away, especially when the fear wasn't there anymore; he didn't have to be afraid of the reassurance Kousuke offered.

Another pair of arms caught him from behind, making Ayumu feel so warm it was hard to believe. "You are stronger than any Blade Child, Ayumu," Eyes's voice murmured near his ear. "Not a single one of us can compare, and that is why you are our Hope, no one else. Kiyotaka might have done you a disservice by not telling you, but he promised that the real Hope would be someone more special than even he could be."

Kousuke nodded his agreement, and nuzzled at the soft brown hair in that same affectionate gesture from earlier. "And because you're that strong, we know that whatever decision you make will have good, solid reasons. So you don't have to worry about us; just worry about yourself."

Ayumu stood between them for several long moments, just trying to digest their close proximity and the depth of their words. "I... I am the Hope..."

Kousuke's arms tightened slightly around him, the redhead just wanting to hold the younger boy close and safe within the shared embrace with Eyes. "Yeah, but it's up to you just how deep and how far the meaning of that title goes. This is one puzzle that only you can solve, and all we can do is stand to the side and let you walk your own path."

"But you're a part of my path," Ayumu protested. That was what being the Hope was all about.

"As much as you let us. We can either walk beside you, or walk behind you," Eyes answered.

"I don't want to walk alone."

Kousuke grinned at him, evil humor in his verdant eyes. "Oh, you wouldn't. It would just be a question of whether you had people walking shoulder-to-shoulder with you, or sticking kick me signs to your back."

Ayumu raised an eyebrow, leveling a Look at him. "I shouldn't expect any less from you."

The nekojin just chuckled, totally unrepentant. "I am who I am, and that's not going to change, not even if Fate catches up to me."

"I hope it doesn't," Ayumu said. "After all, I don't want to fail."

"I'm tough, I'm rough, and I'm insanely stubborn." Kousuke replied with a shrug, "Eyes is even worse than I am, though he's more genteel about it. Trust me, we can hold ourselves together long enough for you to decide. Don't rush yourself." With that, he leaned down and brushed a light kiss over Ayumu's forehead.

The brunette hadn't expected such a gentle gesture from the redhead, and it showed in the slightly dazed way he glanced up at the other boy after the kiss was planted. His golden eyes blinked a few times before the tiniest hints of a blush spread over his cheeks.

"We are always going to be here," Eyes added to that. "Until we can't fight anymore, we're going to stay where you need us to be."

"Especially when you look _that_ cute when blushing." Kousuke added, his tone gently teasing.

"Mou!" Ayumu sputtered, ducking his head. It was bad enough when Hiyono made fun of his 'twinkles', but to have one of the guys make fun of how he blushed...?

"He's right."

"Now look who's ganging up on who."

Kousuke's smile was softer, but no less impish as he replied. "I love you. And this is how I show that. Maybe it's a decidedly whacked way of doing so, but that's how it is. And I think that when you blush, you are utterly adorable, so you'll just have to deal with that."

"You keep saying that..." Ayumu almost whispered. "You really mean that...the way I think you mean it?"

Kousuke didn't answer immediately, but instead gently slid a finger under Ayumu's chin, tilting up the elfin face until those golden eyes could meet his own green-gold. "Yes, I do. I don't use those words lightly, because loving someone is dangerous to our kind. But I love Eyes, and I love you. Nothing's going to hide or change that, so I don't even try."

"But you don't know me like you know Eyes..." It wasn't that Ayumu thought that it was bad, it was just that he hadn't been expecting it. And he wasn't sure what to think about having such feelings directed at him.

"So? It just means I have the fun of learning about you. Besides, I didn't know all that much about Eyes when I fell in love with him, either. Most of what I know, I learned after the fact. To me, the most important thing is just who you are, not how much I know."

Ayumu gave him a confused look, his own mind obviously trying to put that together to make sense to himself. "But.. isn't who I am...what you'd learn about me?"  
Eyes chuckled behind him, making Ayumu shiver and blush a little more for a reason that he couldn't explain. "You think too much sometimes, Little Narumi."

That blush was just irresistible, and Kousuke had never been good at resisting temptation. He leaned down and brushed a light kiss against trembling lips. "I've touched you in your Web, remember? I've felt who you are. It's just the details I don't know. Don't sweat the small stuff."

Ayumu sucked in a sharp breath of surprise, his eyes going even wider. _Did he just...?  
_

"Yes, Ayumu," Eyes answered the unspoken question, loosening his hold enough so that if it was too much for the boy, he could get away.

Kousuke did the same, watching the brunette to see what he did. He waited, unsure if the shock on Ayumu's face would turn to disgust or not.

The boy still stood where he was, the expression turning not into disgust, but his brow furrowed as if he'd just found another puzzle to pick apart the logic of. Granted, a great deal of that puzzle had to do with his own thoughts on what it was like to be kissed by a Blade Child, especially the one named Kousuke Asazuki. It was no lie that he had almost hated him once, particularly after a stunt involving a run-down school and some bees. But they had learned to cope with their differences, through rescuing Rio and Hiyono, all the way during their encounter with Samantha, and even now after Kanone. If nothing else, it was true the redhead was loyal, and Ayumu couldn't help thinking that if Kousuke said he loved someone, he meant it with his whole being. That's just the way he was. No one had ever had that kind of feeling for Ayumu before, and he wasn't sure if it was fair for him to accept that or the kiss if he wasn't sure he could return the meaning behind it. Still... he felt as if his heart was the loudest thing in the elevator, and he couldn't calm it down.

Kousuke watched as those wrinkles appeared on his forehead, and filed away that little bit of information that Hiyono had discovered so long ago. He gave a soft amused sigh and reached up, poking the brunette right between those wrinkles. "Don't think about it so hard. I'm not asking for commitment or anything. It's like things are with Eyes. With him, I don't expect you to return my feelings, and I don't want you to force yourself into trying. It's enough that you care."

Ayumu pouted as he snapped out of his thoughts with the poke. "Who said I was trying to figure it out for you?" he asked, but his tone was gentle, if childish. It was more that he liked to have answers for himself before he let himself act a certain way.

"If it confuses you than much, then perhaps you should rely on your heart, for once, and not your mind. Feelings such as those aren't meant to be puzzled so deeply," Eyes replied.

Kousuke nodded his agreement. "Emotions don't follow logic all that often. If they did, I probably would have stuck to the safe route and never let myself fall in love with anyone, let alone the Hope and my leader. But, well, Kaasan always told me love tends to sneak up in dark alleys, knock you down, and go through your pockets for spare infatuations."

"I think that she was onto something there," Eyes said, and looked a little surprised when Ayumu nodded in agreement.

"Of course I am! I am the great and powerful Kousuke-sama!" the redhead scoffed, feigning pretentious irritation.

Eyes reached out and poked Kousuke on the forehead. "I was talking about your mother, Kousuke... After all, you are that horrible pick-pocket that rifled for my infatuations."

Kousuke sputtered and pouted. "I'm not sure whether to be annoyed by the prick to my pride, or all gooey because that's probably one of the sweetest things you've ever said out loud to me."

"I shall leave that to your discretion," Eyes said, giving the redhead a slight, gentle smile. "But you have to admit that even your pride needs deflating every now and again."

Kousuke gave a matching smile, but was having too much fun with this little verbal fencing match to drop it. "Yes, but that's Rio's job. How do you think she'll feel when she finds out you're subsuming all of her responsibilities?"

"She might be a little offended, but she'll get over it once she realizes that there are places that I can outclass her in. And then she'll have a grudging respect."

Ayumu didn't interject his thoughts on the conversation, too wrapped up in watching the two of them interact. They were usually so guarded, both on their own and around each other when there were others watching. Either they felt that comfortable with him there, or they had forgotten he was.

Kousuke gave a haughty little sniff. "Hmph! Nobody outclasses Rio in the Percussive Reality category. Ayumu agrees with me, don't you, Ayumu?" Not only had they not forgotten he was there, but Kousuke was inviting him to join the banter.

Ayumu looked thoughtful. "I don't know...I would have to see how Eyes handles his own Percussive Reality before I can make a comparison."

"I do believe that was a challenge," Eyes said with an evil little glint in his gaze.

"Now wait just a second...!"

"But of course, you shouldn't do that unless he gets _really _annoying, but he seems to be behaving for the moment," Ayumu added with a laugh.

"Oh, thou hast _slain_ me!" the nekojin wailed, letting go of Ayumu to clutch theatrically at his chest.

Ayumu reached out to grab him, as if to stop him from falling. "You don't get to play sleeping beauty, you drama queen."

Kousuke snapped his fingers. "Damn, my cunning plan to steal kisses has been discovered. I'll have to think of something else." He sighed and pretended to look defeated.

Ayumu looked at him for a moment, then took a deep breath. Shyly, he leaned forward and pressed the tiniest kiss to Kousuke's mouth. "It didn't fail so badly after all," he whispered.

Kousuke blinked at him for a moment, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Ayumu to make a move! If anything, he thought he would have had to coax him into such things for days before he tried anything.

And the way Ayumu quickly withdrew and was now blushing furiously, it was obvious that it had been an impulsive move. "...sorry..." he murmured.

Kousuke smiled and brushed a calloused hand over one blushing cheek. "Don't be. I've been hoping for something like that from you for a long time."

Ayumu carefully leaned into the touch, still unsure of how he felt. "I won't question that...but...I guess I don't have to be sorry then."

"Of course not. That was you acting with your heart and not your logic, and we just had that discussion," Eyes soothed him.

Kousuke smiled, brushing lightly over Ayumu's lips with his thumb. "Would you be willing to let me kiss you back?"

The Hope was beginning to think that he couldn't contain anymore blood in his face, he was blushing so hard. It felt like the temperature in their little space of the elevator had risen several degrees since they first climbed aboard. Ayumu lowered his eyes so that the amber hues could only be seen through thick lashes. "I...I've never done anything like that before... and not with...a boy..."

"Well, since I've ever only kissed one person in my entire life, and he is a boy, I can't really tell you if it's any different from kissing women. But like I told you before, what goes on between me and Eyes doesn't really have anything to do with gender. It's all about affection."

"I guess it really can't be about gender." Ayumu took another deep breath. "I don't know if I'm okay with it, but...I'll try..."

The redhead leaned closer, starting with just the lightest touch to the brunette's lips. "If you don't like it, you can always tell me to stop or push me away. I'd tell you to hit me, but you take way too much pleasure in that for my comfort."

The brush of their mouths sent a shiver down Ayumu's spine, but he didn't pull back. Rather he smirked, a little nervously, but it was there nonetheless. "Hey now, I only did that once, and at that time, you needed it..."

Eyes had stepped back from them now, resuming his place back against the wall to watch. This was between the two of them now, and he knew that if Ayumu didn't like the kiss with Kousuke, there was no use in staying too close.

With a soft chuckle, Kousuke finally sealed his lips to Ayumu's, kissing him with firm but gentle pressure. He wrapped his arms lightly around the other boy, just needing to hold him as he focused on the softness of the other boy's lips.

Ayumu almost felt trapped by the hold, but he forced himself to concentrate on how it felt to be kissed. It was his first real kiss, and he wasn't sure how he should act, so he just let himself be embraced, lifting his hands to brace themselves against Kousuke's chest. The feel of the kiss didn't seem all that bad, and he held onto it, letting Kousuke press against his mouth. The gesture was strange, but only because he'd never done it before.

Kousuke was very gentle, coaxing Ayumu to open his mouth so that he could deepen the kiss. But as he did, he was keeping watch for any sign that Ayumu might want to stop. He didn't want to scare the brunette away.

It was after he felt the prodding tongue against his mouth that Ayumu's logical thought shut down, and for a moment, he didn't know whether to pull away or encourage Kousuke to continue. He decided not to back out so quickly and stuck with it, the feeling strange, but not in a bad way. Curling his fingers in the redhead's shirt, he slowly opened his mouth.

Kousuke's response to that came in the form of a soft purr and a gentle tongue. He was surprisingly patient as he slowly learned Ayumu's mouth, teaching the brunette what to do and trying to encourage him to experiment on his own.

It took several long moments for Ayumu to actually respond by himself, having to try out what the exploration felt like as Kousuke continued. He couldn't get over how strange it felt, and then at the same time, how _good_ it felt. He supposed that kissing was something that was supposed to feel natural, but he didn't think he'd be this relaxed with it. Then again, relaxed shouldn't have been the right word considering how fast it felt like his heart was pounding. At last, he finally began his own tentative searches, meeting Kousuke's tongue with his own and kissing back with what little he'd learned.

The purring grew louder, one of Kousuke's hands sliding up Ayumu's back to bury itself in the soft brown hair. It might have been his imagination, but the brunette tasted sweet to him, like honey and cinnamon. Ayumu's scent of earth and spices overlaid by satsuma added to the sensory pleasure, and the redhead took it all in, just reveling in the moment.

The hand in his hair was all Ayumu needed to press himself forward against Kousuke, returning the kiss with a little bit more confidence now. The first tiny moan rose up in his throat before he had the chance to quiet it, his cheeks flushing dark again just when he thought he'd got over his embarrassment at kissing another boy. He almost forgot to breathe before he took a slow breath through his nose, picking up the scent of lavender and herbs that he couldn't think to name.

Eyes watched them with a darkened gaze, his eyes a little wider than before as he took in the image of the two of them kissing, as if it was the most incredible, beautiful thing he'd seen in his life. There wasn't room for jealousy or any of the other negative things that one normally expected. They'd all been bound once, and just by witnessing Ayumu and Kousuke like this almost made Eyes feel like that connection had never been severed.

Kousuke took that moan as encouragement to kiss a little harder, twining his tongue against Ayumu's, searching out sensitive spots to manipulate, and feeling almost as if he wanted to devour the other boy.

Ayumu stiffened in Kousuke's arms, but not because he didn't want it, but because he was slowly beginning to feel like he did. It was more than a little overwhelming to feel desire in that way sneaking up on him like that, yet he was returning the kiss just as hard as Kousuke was giving it, logic completely gone now. Ayumu worked from instinct now, and instinct told him that he should be trying just as hard to devour that feeling and Kousuke's mouth. His eyes, which had only been slightly open when the kiss began, were tightly squeezed shut now, another moan almost rumbling in the back of his throat.

When Kousuke started to want more than just the kiss, he knew it was time to pull back. Still, it took a huge act of will to do so, with Ayumu suddenly so willing and enthusiastic within his arms. He broke the kiss with a soft gasp, looking down at the flushed face of the other boy with eyes that seemed to glow from the inside out. "Sorry," he rasped, responding to the slight disappointment he could see in the golden eyes, "but if we'd gone on much longer, I would have started pushing things too far."

"...oh..." Ayumu was more than a little breathless himself, raising the hand that wasn't hopelessly tangled in Kousuke's shirt to his kiss-swollen lips. For all that he'd been afraid of being kissed, it really wasn't that bad, and he had to admit that he'd been sucked into it. He probably wouldn't have noticed if things were going too far until it was too late, and he appreciated that Kousuke knew well enough to pull back.

"Besides," the redhead added gently, "there's someone else in this elevator that probably wants to kiss you just as much as I did, if not more." He looked over at Eyes, smiling at the intent way the silver-haired boy watched them, almost like a dragon overlooking his hoard.

When Ayumu's gaze turned to Eyes, the musician's cheeks turned a very pale pink, as if he'd expected to stay the observer for the moment and not be called out so soon. Truly, as correct as Kousuke was, he knew that it was a step for Ayumu to go forward with kissing one boy, that it might have been too much for a second to ask. "It's...not necessary, Ayumu..."

"Awww, he's so cute when he blushes, isn't he Ayumu?" Kousuke teased, then turned serious. "But I actually disagree with him, just a little. The two of us are a pair, Ayumu. If you get close to one, you get close to the other. You can slap me if I'm wrong, but I think it's best if you get used to that sooner rather than later."

"I'm not going to hit you over something so stupid," Ayumu said quietly.  
Eyes didn't say anything one way or another, once more letting his own stubborn ethics lead him. Just like being the Hope, he was going to leave the choice of whether Ayumu accepted him as well be up to the boy instead of influencing him one way or the other. He couldn't deny the younger teen his free will, because it went against everything he ever believed, no matter how much he wanted to share a kiss with the Hope the way Kousuke had. "It's up to you," he whispered.

Kousuke also waited, pulling his arms away so that Ayumu didn't have any distractions while making his choice. He hoped that the brunette would go to Eyes. Free will or no, he was going to feel very uncomfortable if Ayumu would only accept one of them at a time. It felt...bad. Like leaving a part of himself behind.

A moment of almost tense silence passed among them, then finally Ayumu lifted his hand in offering to Eyes. The pianist looked at it almost hesitantly before he uncrossed his arms to take it, gently pulling the brunette towards him, inviting. Ayumu followed the pull, their gazes locking for several moments, hands still clasped.

"I hated you the day I met you."

"I challenged the world you made for yourself," Eyes responded without falter.

Ayumu smirked. "You were right."

"Do you still hate me then?"

"Don't ask stupid questions." Ayumu leaned up and carefully placed a kiss on Eyes's mouth.

Kousuke relaxed as the kiss began, relieved that in at least this much, there wasn't going to be a problem. He watched them admiringly, taking in the beauty of the scene, not just for the physical attractiveness of the two, but for the little things, like the way Ayumu instinctively seemed to catalogue the differences between Kousuke and Eyes, like how the silver-haired Blade Child was actually several degrees cooler to the touch than the redhead, just from the difference in the nature of the elements they controlled.

And it was something that Ayumu couldn't help, the slightest traces of his furrowed brows evident as he pressed closer and kissed a little bit more the way he'd been taught. He noticed that Eyes was different, and shivered as he felt the cool skin against his own, but it was a good difference between him and Kousuke. It was guaranteed that Ayumu would never confuse them this way. He seemed to melt against Eyes in spite of the cooler feel of the Blade Child, learning to be just as at ease with him as he had been with Kousuke.

Kousuke approached them, but not to interrupt the kiss in any way. Instead, he just reached out to run his hands over each of their backs, encouraging them to relax and enjoy themselves. After all, he and Eyes had wanted Ayumu to be with them for a while, now. Things could be taken slow.

Feeling Kousuke's reassuring touch reminded them that they needn't be hasty, and they clung a little tighter to each other as if they needed that to brace themselves. Ayumu was the first to try deepening the kiss this time, the attempt a little clumsy since he had just barely learned how to do it from Kousuke's more heated kiss. But Eyes was different and kissed differently, so once he made the invitation, he let the older teen take control.

Kousuke found the sight breathtaking, watching as Eyes continued the gentle lesson in the first steps of desire. He absently wondered if he could get Jhette to give him a picture of this, later.

Eyes easily understood Kousuke's dilemma about being driven to take it further, but not wanting to move too fast. Therefore, he also instigated the release of the kiss, and his gaze met Kousuke's over a breathless Ayumu's shoulder. _He's like...a drug...  
_

Kousuke nodded, moving in once more to wrap his arms around Ayumu from behind, just enjoying holding the smaller boy. _Or one of those really decadent sweets. Meant to be savored, but with the strong temptation to just gobble it up.  
_

Eyes wrapped his arms around them both as best he could and nuzzled his face into the crook of Ayumu's neck, much to the other's surprise. _Something like that, yes... Thank goodness for a sense of self-control...  
_

_Well, that and the fact that I know you'd make me sleep on the roof for a week if I made Ayumu cry._ Kousuke's just held the two others close, totally absorbed in this little pocket of peace they'd made for themselves.

And that was probably why none of them noticed when the elevator started moving again, or when the door let out its soft little chime on the 23rd floor. But they certainly heard what came next.

"KAWAII!"

Eyes and Ayumu nearly jumped out of their skin, both fixing their attention on the source of the cry and glaring. Of course, it took only a moment to recognize that it was Rio's voice, and by this point, they were blushing.

Rio was all smiles and sparkly eyes as she looked at them, obviously very much the happy yaoi fangirl. Not seeming to notice their distress or discomfort, she pulled a small disposable camera out of her pocket and snapped a picture of the three of them before anyone could protest. "You're all so _cute_ together! I can't wait to show Riku!"

"Riiiiiooo..." Kousuke groaned, blushing so hard that he matched his hair.

"That's quite enough," Eyes finished for the redhead, giving her a stern look. It was obvious that he was caught off guard, and more than a little flustered by the fact that he hadn't noticed the elevator was moving.

Rio chuckled and pocketed the camera. "Hai, hai. I'm just so happy to see you've worked out your differences, is all. And it's especially good to see Little Narumi's feeling better."

At that, Ayumu blushed. 'Better' was one way of saying how he was feeling right now, and he wasn't about to elaborate or Rio's benefit.

Kousuke sighed and tried to calm his own blushing. "Rio, can you please let us out of the elevator? Ayumu wanted to use the kitchen."

Rio's eyes grew even more starry, if that were possible. "Little Narumi's cooking?"

"For _me_." Kousuke retorted, hands on his hips. "You want some, you give me that camera. Who knows what you'll do with the picture you just took."

Rio scowled and clutched at the pocket of her dress stubbornly. "Hell no! It's bad enough that I can't wire rooms because of Jhette's security! And do you know how much Riku and I could get on the internet if we auctioned that photo? You'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers, Kousuke-baka!" With that, she ran down the hall.

"Hey! Come back here!" Kousuke rushed out of the elevator, then paused, glancing back at the other two. "Just go on into the kitchen. I'll catch up after mugging some little girls." And then he was off, yelling insults at the smaller Blade Child.

Ayumu and Eyes watched them go, sharing one glance between them that said it all. They were surrounded by the insane, but they really didn't seem to mind all that much. After sharing one more small kiss between them, Eyes got control of his composure and led Ayumu to the kitchen to cook.

ooooo

Kanone took the tray from the servant at the door, and closed it so that he and his three guests could have privacy as they talked. He put the tray down on the table, leaving his own heavily sugared tea where it was. He picked up the other cup of English tea, this one not quite so heavily sugared, and handed it to Justin with a nod. The coffee went to the beautiful blonde girl, who gave him a curt nod of her own before going back to her annoyed pacing. He sighed and shook his head at her bad state of temper, and picked up the single mug of Japanese green tea and handing it to his fourth and most important guest. Only then did he sit down.

A pair of small, graceful hands took the cup from Kanone, raising it so that the scent of the tea could be inhaled. "It was so good of you to have us on such short notice, Kanone," murmured a soft, rich tenor that sounded like it had never yelled before. The boy it belonged to settled into one of the comfortable chairs that were circled around the coffee table. Sharp bronze eyes fixed on Kanone, a smile coming to his face as he reached up to brush back a tendril of bright, sea-green hair away from his heart-shaped face.

Kanone smiled and shook his head, sipping at his own tea. "It was no trouble. After all, it is not every day that you decide to drop in for a visit, Hizumi-sama. Even if the reasons are less than desirable."

Cassandra's response to that was a growl as she continued to pace, obviously very much annoyed by those reasons Kanone had mentioned.

Hizumi Mizushiro took a long sip of his tea, savoring the flavor before lowering the cup again. "I would prefer not to think of this as a total loss. After all, I must commend you on a splendid job of breaking apart the Hope's Web and shaking his trust. Regardless of Cassie's loss to the Tengu Child, those renegades are still weakened. Kiyotaka's younger brother is a disgrace to the Narumi name."

"But it's _frustrating!_" Cassandra finally growled, throwing her hands in the air. "I was _this close_ to having him in the palm of my hand! He would have made such a wonderful Hunter, but nooooo!"

"Not every battle in this war will be won, dear. Sit down and drink your coffee." Hizumi crossed one leg over the other and rested the teacup against his thigh. His eyes closed for a moment as if he were thinking about what to say next. He smiled again. "However well the Hope may be broken, I am still not quite content with the way things stand."

"_You're_ not content?" Cassandra muttered, but plopped into her own chair and sipped at her coffee in an annoyed but still very ladylike fashion.

Kanone chuckled. "What else would you like done, Hizumi-sama?"

"There is a difference between the Web I uphold and the one that Narumi does. He gains his strength not only from himself, but from two other Blade Children. I fear that if those two...Pillars are left untouched, the Hope will return." Hizumi shook his head. "And we can't have that, now can we?"

Cassandra nodded, her expression turning contemplative. "True, though we do have _some _breathing space. Even if they manage to remove the telepathic changes made, the Hope will still need time to teach himself to trust those around him again. And so long as he keeps a distance from his Pillars, they are vulnerable."

"I think there is where the problem arises," Justin spoke up, his voice soft and unobtrusive. "For if it was merely those Pillars that Narumi was exposed to, perhaps he'd stay locked away from them, never to approach those doors of broken trust. However, there are other factors involved, such as Rio Takeuchi and Riku Sorashima. And let us not forget that human that seems to think she has to push Ayumu in the right direction. With such encouragement, he won't keep his distance for long."

"So it's best to act fast, while the Pillars are vulnerable," Kanone replied, "especially if there is a chance that destroying the Pillars will take away any chance for Little Narumi to destroy Fate. Eyes, at the very least, I still hold strong ties to, no matter how much he might fool himself otherwise." He sipped at his tea again and glanced at Hizumi. "However, the choice of who to target isn't just mine. Which would you prefer to take first, Hizumi-sama? They'll both eventually end up in your hands, anyway."

Hizumi looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose it would do no harm to reward you for a job well done on the younger Narumi. You may have Eyes back in your care.. if it would suit a lovely lady to take on the challenge." He raised a slender brow and glanced at Cassandra.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed in thought. "That may be a little tricky. The Hope is a fool, and likely will not stay with those he should be protecting. But Rutherford is always guarded by Asazuki, and I'm not particularly interested in fighting off an angry pyrokinetic."

"Except in one instance," Justin said, the faintest hint of a smile on his face.

Kanone raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Oh? Do you know of an opening, Justin?"

"There is one place where Eyes commands attention alone, and that is before his audience. I think that it's high time that he learns such foolish behavior isn't good for him."

"I do like the way he thinks, Kanone," Hizumi said with a smile.

Kanone chuckled. "Justin has proven his value to me many times over since I first found him. I'm very proud of him."

Justin let himself smile for once at the praise, the expression rare on his face.

Cassandra nodded, a smile finally beginning to grace her angelic features. "It might work. If we can snatch him up during one of those concerts of his, we can sedate him and bring him back here for Kanone to break, and then Hizumi-sama can have a brand new puppet to play with."

Kanone raised an amused eyebrow. "Just so long as _I_ still get to play with him once in a while."

Hizumi chuckled quietly. "Of course. You can keep him as long as you control him. Mind you, that task may be difficult only until he's had a taste of Fate."

Kanone shrugged. "I know exactly what buttons to push that make his body respond to me, even if the mind rebels. Unless you're planning to use him as a ravening psychopath, I doubt that will change."

"Where is Rutherford's next concert supposed to be? And when?" Cassandra asked, "The sooner we go pick up Kanone's toy, the better."

Kanone thought for a moment, trying to remember what the current bulletins on the website had said. "Ah, New York, I believe. He's doing a charity concert at an all girls' school in two days."

"Isn't he lucky?" Hizumi mocked with a laugh. "We'll be sure to make it a performance no one will soon forget."

ooooo

Ayumu rolled over to face the window, pulling his blanket more tightly around him. He felt like a child as he stared outside at the shadowed moon; scared, confused, and lost. The darker part of him that had followed him home from Europe ended up being destroyed after all, and while he could think clearly, he was more unsure of things than ever. No doubt, the Blade Children, _his _Blade Children, cared enough to risk their lives for him, not just to get him away from Kanone and his dogs, but to restore his mind to him. And they hadn't done it with any expectations other than to trust them to help him. Eyes had said that it was entirely up to him whether or not he opened the Web once more, became the Hope again. It seemed to undermine Kanone's entire theory that the Blade Children were all ungrateful monsters. _Humans are monsters too,_ Ayumu thought to himself as his lips pressed tightly together in a frown. Common, seemingly ordinary people relied on greed and apathy to get by, and yet the handful of determined Blade Children that had saved his life wanted to save this world, those very same humans…and themselves. Kanone was wrong, his perception skewed. Only _some _of the Blade Children were monsters; the rest were likely just as lost as Ayumu himself, looking for answers not in the logic that came so easily to them, but in other people.

The Blade Children fighting Fate looked to him as a source of salvation, both as the Mindbreaker that could protect them and as the only human compassionate enough not to kill their bodies or their minds. The shadow that Kanone had placed on him had smothered that compassion with the lies of broken trust. Even with it gone, Ayumu was still scared to believe again, scared of being broken even more. So in turn, he looked to them as well in order to see for himself that his friends wouldn't use him. He watched as Kousuke and Eyes looked to each other for a deeper meaning to survival. Living was good, but for what? No sooner was the question asked that the answer was given, wordless in a single smile, a gentle touch, or a warm embrace. It was love, the depths of which not even the Hope could fathom.

The most startling thing, however, was that Ayumu knew he was a part of it. He was lost in a shaky middle ground of the unknown and longing for completion that he barely knew he had needed.

_"But I'm not…"_

_"Gay? Little Narumi, I've touched your soul. You can lie to yourself all you want…You don't _love_ them, not yet, but that doesn't mean that the desire is not there, no matter how you fool them to keep them away."_

Kanone had wanted him to believe that because he desired them on a level he couldn't understand that he would be used. The German had known that both Eyes and Kousuke wanted to be with Ayumu, and he twisted it into something corrupt, something cruel.

"No," Ayumu murmured, the lie clearer now that he was alone, in his right mind. Some of Kanone's words were true, a part of him felt bound, as if it belonged with them. He couldn't deny that he needed them. Even now, a part of him wished for that combined embrace that seemed to shut out the rest of the world. But Ayumu knew just as surely that they wouldn't use him, that to hurt him would be like hurting one another. They gave him the space to breathe, the choice to make, and the warmth to return to. He wouldn't let his predisposition to any orientation, or a madman's deception, dictate his actions when his heart laid out so plainly what he needed. He was joined with them, bound with them, and that shattered any more violent notions he'd been forced to endure. It frightened him, being that close to anyone, but having fear meant finding the strength to overcome it. And, if nothing else, the Blade Children had helped him find a strength he never knew he had. Ayumu knew that he could pick up the pieces now. The world was still complicated, but he could unravel it with time, and he could make himself whole again. But not alone, as he'd always done before.

The Hope tried to bury himself in the covers, thinking it would be enough, but it wasn't. Sitting up with a start, he swallowed hard and made himself get out of bed. "Kousuke…" he murmured as he found his coat, tugging it on and moving to the door. "Eyes…" Shoes on, keys clutched in his shaking hand as he locked up behind him and started running. This late at night, he was dodging sparse crowds, making his way to the place his heart, his bound soul, needed to be. "Aitai…aitai…"

Eyes's home seemed a lot more intimidating at night than it did washed in daylight, or maybe Ayumu's nerves were more on edge than usual. His near-panicked run here was unusual for him, almost daunting with how desperately he needed to be here. Thankfully, if Jhette had noticed his arrival, and it was most likely he had, he didn't question Ayumu's presence as he made his way to the top floor. Every step towards the musician's room felt like it thundered, though not quite louder than the pounding of his heart. The door was open when he turned the handle, and he hadn't realized that out of nervousness, he was half-hoping it would have been locked. Swallowing hard, he peered inside.

Eyes's hedonistic bed was still where it had always been, covered in velvets and silks and satins. And in that bed, cuddled up with each other as they rested, were the two that Ayumu had been so desperate to see.

The world felt like it could settle back into place a little as he saw them safe and sound. Ayumu hated to admit that the feeling crawling through him was fear. This was the first time since they'd pulled him away from that shadowy construct that he'd been near them. He didn't know how to react, but maybe...maybe it would be enough now to know that they were safe. He didn't want to disturb them, not when they had their own troubles to deal with. Why did he want so badly to be closer? Biting his lip, he started to withdraw from the doorway, thinking that if he didn't leave altogether, he could find a couch to crash on...

One of the boys on the bed stirred, green-gold eyes opening to gaze at Ayumu sleepily. "'yumu?" he slurred softly, "What're you doing here? Something wrong?"

The brunette froze, feeling like his heart had jumped into his throat, and in addition to that, he was embarrassed. He could feel heat crawling into his cheeks. "Um, no," he managed to say, glancing at the sleepy face. "Everything's fine.."

The soft words roused the other figure in the bed, Eyes making a soft murmur, gazing up at Kousuke with curious blue eyes, barely managing to cover up a wide yawn.

Kousuke sat up a little, the soft fabric of his green sleep shirt rustling quietly as he moved. "Then what's up?" he asked, more awake now. "You feel...unsettled."

Eyes pushed up with him, looking a little surprised, but not at all unhappy to see the brunette, even if there was a crease of worry in his brow as well.

Ayumu gripped the knob tightly to keep still, having forgotten that the redhead could feel his emotions, and he had no defense against it. "I...wanted to check up on you guys is all...it's nothing to worry about."

Kousuke tilted his head curiously, then smiled. "Well, since you're here already, you want to join us? There's lots of room."

"But I...you guys...I mean..."

"It's all right, Ayumu," Eyes spoke up. His voice was thick with the sleep he hadn't quite shaken off, accent a little more apparent as he talked. "You don't have to leave. There _is _plenty of room."

There were no real words for how much Ayumu felt like he needed to be there, to take their invitation, but still he hesitated, a part of him believing that he would come between them somehow, and he didn't want that.

The redheaded empath chuckled, sensing Ayumu's worry. "Ayun, we want you with us. I know we've told you that before."

"I know," he said quietly. "I'm still...working on that..." To his credit, he still hadn't moved out of the doorway, in fact some of him had moved inside when he turned to face them.  
Eyes noted that the boy was wearing his pajamas, as if he'd run right over without even bothering to change. He smiled a little as well. "After you came all this way, it would be a shame for you to leave so soon."

Kousuke shifted, scooting back a little on the bed and raising the covers invitingly.

Ayumu was tired, there was no denying that, and he couldn't sleep very well at home. He took a few more steps into the room, thinking that maybe for a few minutes, it would be all right. A few minutes would do no harm...

Eyes moved a little too, his gaze calm and encouraging as the lure of his luxurious bed did the rest for him. He was elated when the boy shut the door and made his way over, kicking off his shoes somewhere along the way.

"You're...sure this is okay...?" he whispered. No turning back, right?

"Quite sure. We're always happy to have you, Ayumu." Kousuke replied.

"Don't be so quick to say that," the brunette warned. "I wasn't exactly good company a few days ago."

"That was a few days ago," Eyes replied without missing a beat.

Ayumu reached the bed, and he crawled up onto it moving into the space that Kousuke and Eyes had created for him as if it were a natural place to be.

The redhead smiled brightly as Ayumu settled between them, and pulled the blankets back down over them all. "Comfy?" he asked, making sure Ayumu was covered and warm.

"Mmmhmmm," Ayumu said, affirmation more of a contented murmur than actual words. He lay his head on the nearest pillow, and there were many to choose from, looking up at them both sleepily. "Just f'r a few minutes.."

Kousuke gave a purring chuckle and lightly stroked Ayumu's soft brown hair.

"You can stay as long as you want. We're glad you're with us."

"He's right. Stay for a moment, stay for the night, we're content just the same." It was mostly true. Eyes didn't want Ayumu to leave after a moment, not when he could settle against the other boy protectively. "May I hold you?" he whispered against the other boy's ear.

A tiny shiver could be felt, but Ayumu wasn't pulling away as he nodded. "If y'want."

"We both want," Kousuke replied lightly, smiling as Eyes pulled Ayumu into his arms to snuggle.

"I want too," the boy said, tugging at Kousuke's sleeve so that the other would add his embrace to Eyes's. His eyes were mostly closed as he looked up at the redhead, already feeling more relaxed than he'd been since he left.

"Good. At least we agree," Kousuke murmured, wrapping his own arms around Ayumu's slender waist.

Ayumu thought there was more he wanted to say, but being in the centre of the two most prominent forces in his life now seemed to take away any other care he had. His eyes fluttered the rest of the way closed, and in moments, the sounds of his deep breathing fluttered between them.

Eyes's gaze softened even more as he gazed down at their Hope. _That was fast...  
_

Kousuke chuckled quietly. _He hasn't been sleeping well for the last while. Now that he's in a place he thinks of as safe, there's nothing to keep him from his rest.  
_

_I feel so...overjoyed to have him so close_. Eyes glanced from Ayumu's sleeping face to Kousuke's glowing eyes.

The nekojin purred. _As do I. I've got the two people I love most in the same room.  
_

Eyes carefully leaned over the sleeping boy to press a kiss to Kousuke's contented smile. _You do...and we're not going anywhere either. Things feel right again.  
_

The redhead nodded and leaned into the kiss, stealing just a few more seconds.

Eyes didn't mind at all. As long as he didn't let go of the precious boy between them, he could take all the time he wanted indulging in Kousuke's warm kiss.

Kousuke didn't let it last too long, because he wanted to avoid the temptation to turn things a bit more carnal in nature. He rather doubted Ayumu would appreciate suddenly being in the middle of a passionate tryst.

When Eyes pulled back, he was smiling in that way that only Kousuke was usually allowed to see. It would have to be enough to convey his contentment and the other things that remained unspoken in the depths of his thoughts. _I say we all sleep in tomorrow.  
_

_Sounds good to me. The longer I can snuggle you two, the better.  
_

_Agreed. _Eyes settled in behind Ayumu tucking his nose against the nape of the other's neck and breathing in the scent of him. His hand sought one of Kousuke's, wishing to be touching them both until slumber took him.

Kousuke rested his head on Ayumu's shoulder and clasped Eyes's hand, twining their fingers together. _I love you,_ he murmured again, just wanting Eyes to hear it.

Though it wasn't crystal clear, Kousuke could feel the warmth of the emotions that those words provoked. Eyes was happy to know it, happy to feel it, and the redhead could sense that.

That happiness made Kousuke happy, and he gave a little contented sigh as he snuggled close as possible.

And it was tangled like that that they all fell asleep, feeling safe and warm near one another, where they belonged.


	23. Chapter 23

That Title: The Epic

Chapter: 23/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Notes/Warnings: Ohgods, don't hate us for this chapter… There is another explicit scene, this one containing elements of D/s [Dominance/submission] and non-consensual sex. If that makes you uncomfortable, the beginning and the end of the scene have been marked so that you can still get the important bits of the chapter.

Kyo-chan apologizes for the huge delay in getting this chapter out. Things have been a little crazy, as usual. [She's used to being the cause of lag.]

Summary: If Eyes will not go to Fate, Fate will come to him, and it won't be a pleasant visit.

ooooo

All things considered, the concert was going better than Eyes had expected. Once he started playing, the squealing quieted down so that he could concentrate on what he was doing. Except for the random bursts of screaming that followed each song and one or two instances where someone had thrown her underwear onto the stage in what was supposedly an invitation, he did just fine with coping against the entirely female audience. Still, he would be very grateful when it was all over and he was on a plane back to Tokyo. It would take nearly another whole day just to make it home, but the long trip would be worth being back on familiar ground. At best, his comfort now would be in the soothing chords of the piano, which had always brought him some semblance of peace.

That peace was abruptly shattered when the lights crackled and flickered out, plunging the auditorium into darkness. Startled voices and frightened squeaks rippled through the rows of schoolgirls the moment Eyes's fingers stilled on the keys. He was too paranoid to think that it was a mere coincidence or a random outage. Everything had been checked prior to his entrance onstage at his insistence. He rose up off the bench with quickened grace, shedding the overcoat he usually wore to concerts, the extra fabric would only hinder him if he was truly in danger. Just in time, it seemed, because just as the last folds of the coat had fallen to the floor, a strong hand closed around his mouth, the other pressing something sharp to his throat.

Narrowing his eyes, the Blade Child made it quite apparent that he took exception to having his concert interrupted for this inconvenience. Reacting more out of instinct than opportunity to practice, he spread his fingers, talent reaching out to the moisture in the air, forming a shard of ice that his hand closed around. Growling, he made a stab behind him at whoever was holding onto him. There was an angry hiss, and the hands loosened, but the blade at his throat still left a shallow line of pain as it was pulled away, cutting slightly into his skin. Eyes let out a hiss of his own, jamming his elbow into the other's midsection to knock his attacker even more off of him, turning to run. He didn't get very far before a fist slammed into his shoulder, knocking him forward. Eyes stumbled but managed to keep himself from falling completely. _Two?! Damn it!_ He was suddenly struck again, this time a hard shove at his lower back, knocking him down the stairs into the little hallway behind the stage. Eyes lay sprawled for the span of a few seconds, thinking he might have hit his head on the way down, it throbbed that badly. But the fight or flight instinct was still strong, urging him to gather his wits and get away. His hands pressed to the floor beneath him, attempting to push up at least upright, if not to his feet.

A hand grabbed his arm, long nails digging into skin with the strength of the grip. There was a sudden sharp sting on his bicep, and then the area around that sting began to go numb. The Blade Child growled as he felt the tingling spread outward, bringing a cool lack of feeling with it. Drugs....they'd drugged him. He scrambled to try and use what he had left, using the leverage of the hold on his arm to get his feet under him. The second attacker was ready for him, however, landing a hit to the solar plexus. Eyes choked and slumped forward.

"Let's get him out of here," a smooth female voice murmured, "what passes for security here will have the lights back on, soon. Can you carry him on your own, Justin?"

"I've got him."

Barely able to even feel his legs, Eyes only managed to writhe in protest as strong arms swept him up against a hard, muscled chest less than gently.

"Good. Tsk...the little savage got bloodstains on my dress. I honestly don't know what Kanone-chan sees in him."

"Who are you...?" Eyes rasped, still trying to catch his breath from being hit hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Shush. If you bring attention to us, I'll have to kill whoever comes here, and killing humans is so very boring." the woman whispered.

Eyes growled, his brows furrowing. It felt as if his entire body were asleep, he could barely tell it was there at all. That was a frightening thought in and of itself, but the helplessness of his situation only added insult to injury. The last thing he needed to do was involve innocents.

They left the school, cutting through the large parking lot to another stand of buildings, where a car waited for them, not unlike those that Eyes used to get around while he was on tour. Abruptly, the door was opened, and he was tossed unceremoniously onto the closest leather seat. Instead of the dim lighting often seen in luxury cars such as this, the lights embedded along the roof illuminated those within quite clearly while the tinted windows ensured privacy. He could now see the woman, a beautiful blonde girl with cat-slit sky blue eyes. She slid within the vehicle gracefully, moving to sit next to another boy of about Ayumu's age, with brown eyes and sea green hair. The last one to get inside and take his seat across from them was a taller young man with straight black hair pulled back and silver-grey eyes. Eyes didn't recognize any of them, but immediately identified them as other Blade Children, and very obviously ones that weren't on his side.

"We got him, Hizumi-sama. Though I admit there was a little damage done," the woman announced grumpily.

"Hizumi!" Eyes hissed under his breath, feeling the urge to fight, to run away, but nothing responded. not a single muscle. "Damn it..!"

"Well done, Cassie. I knew that I could entrust you and Justin to the job." The boy slid next to Eyes with a seemingly gentle smile on his face as the car's engine purred to life. Despite the slit eyes so similar to his friends, Eyes knew that Hizumi was no Blade Child. He was something much worse. "I have waited for the day to meet you face-to-face, Eyes Rutherford."

"I didn't particularly enjoy the invitation," Eyes muttered back.

Cassandra made another 'tsk'ing sound. "One would think that he'd be a little more civil, considering he was raised exactly the same as Kanone-chan. Honestly. As for who I am, Rutherford, I'm rather disappointed that even after Kanone-chan was kind enough to warn you, you didn't bother to learn about Huntress Cassandra. A foolish mistake, when any of your pets could have given you information."

Eyes ignored her, not bothering to protest since he had not taken precautions. There just hadn't seemed to be time with the recovering Hope in their care. Despite the luxurious expanse of the limo, he felt claustrophobic, trapped. He wanted to thrash, to clench his fists, anything to put up some kind of fight. He glared at the quiet man that had carried him here before fixing his attention on Hizumi. "Come now, you really didn't expect me to be civil in such a situation, did you?" Even unable to move, he looked somewhat elegant against the black leather, arms useless at his sides, blue eyes blazing. His brow creased when he noticed the car was in motion, wondering just where they planned to take him, even though he had a fairly good guess.

Cassandra shrugged, pulling a small first aid kit from under one of the seats and tending to the cut that Eyes had inflicted to her leg. "Mou...if this scars, I'm coming after him whether Kanone-chan likes it or not."

Eyes raised a brow, his head the only thing he could turn, and there was a bit of an exasperated expression on his face. "I assure you, it would be an improvement."

Cassandra's glare was fit to peel paint, but she restrained herself from what was obviously a wish to cause some fairly serious damage. "Anyway, he's all yours until we get to England, Hizumi-sama. Though we might want to get rid of the cuts and bruises before Kanone sees him. It would be a pity if his gift was all scuffed up."

This time, it was Eyes that wore the blistering glare, not liking the implication that he'd be delivered to Kanone like some kind of object.

Hizumi nodded, pressing his hands together and murmuring a soft spell under his breath. Eyes almost yelped as he saw a white glow surround him, but he couldn't move to stop it. The magic did no harm other than to clear up the bruises and cuts he'd acquired in the struggle, though as he had when Kousuke healed him, he felt the wounds fixing themselves.

Cassandra sighed, watching the spell work. "Must be nice to be a mage. Now, how do you suppose we should deliver him? Just tying him up and dumping him on Kanone-chan's bed as is seems a little crude. Any thoughts, Justin?"

Justin had settled into the seat closest to Eyes, just in case the drug wore off faster than it should have. He wanted to be close enough to restrain the other Blade Child if it became necessary. He cupped his chin in his palm, regarding Eyes with an almost careless look, as if he didn't think Eyes deserved to be presented to Kanone at all. "Do we know what his other form is?"

Cassandra nodded. "I believe Kanone-chan said that he's from youko stock."

Hizumi nodded knowingly, then smiled. While the expression was sweet, the look in his eyes was not to be taken lightly. "Why don't we have a look at it, hmm?"

Eyes wanted nothing more than to run as he met that gaze, or perhaps gouge those dark orbs out completely. He only managed to sit up a little straighter, lips pressed in a tight line. Hizumi leaned closer and made no special ceremony of thrusting his hand into Eyes's chest. The musician's eyes went impossibly wide, expecting a rush of pain from the action physically. What he got was something deeper and much more terrifying, the hand disappearing within him without actually breaking skin, and Eyes would have sworn it felt like Hizumi had grabbed his heart regardless. A soft green glow blurred the pianist's vision. Smirking, the smaller boy slowly pulled his hand back out of the light, making Eyes cry out and involuntarily slump forward a little as it felt like that one little gesture pulled at every part of him.

Cassandra watched with a great deal of interest, her lips twisted in a predatory smile. "My, what a pretty shade of blue. It matches his eyes."

"Does it?" Hizumi used his free hand to grab Eyes's chin and pull his head up a little less than gently. The older boy was still conscious, eyes half-lidded and barely able to muster the glare he wanted to give.

Eyes felt so tired, so _empty_...and he swallowed hard as he realized why and just what Hizumi held. He was surprised he was still awake to actually see it.

"I suppose it does. Keep your eyes on me, Rutherford. You never know what could happen when you're not looking." He moved his hand, stroking the globe of brilliant blue light with his fingertips. Eyes gasped, feeling like he'd taken a subtle kick to the lungs, staggering his breath.

Justin looked a little wary, even though he had seen Kanone do it, but never with so much ease. Hizumi must have been the one to help him train the ability.

Cassandra savored the sound of the gasp, and the slowly blossoming fear in the silver-haired boy's gaze. "It's a pity Kanone-chan doesn't have the strength to do that. He would have had a lot more fun with the Hope or Asazuki."

"Yes, but with time he will be stronger," Hizumi said, still stroking the light as if he were holding a small pet.

Eyes was panting now as if he couldn't get enough air with each breath, gaze now riveted on his very life, helpless in Hizumi's hands.

"That will be interesting to see." Cassandra murmured, her own gaze on Eyes. "Mmm...he's far more attractive when he suffers, isn't he?"

Justin gave a shrug, but he still watched proceedings with a wary eye.

"You deserve this for ever thinking you could deny the path laid out for you, Eyes Rutherford," Hizumi murmured. "You were foolish to think that you could run like a coward, not knowing just how easily this false life you've made for yourself could be extinguished." He only punctuated his point by cupping both hands around Eyes's soul, hiding all the light except the slivers that peeked through his fingers.

The silver-haired teen felt a cold panic gripping him as he tried to catch his breath, feeling like there just wasn't enough air for him to keep for himself. The terror that held him was like that of one who thought he was drowning and wouldn't make it back up to the surface before the air ran out.

Cassandra tilted her head, musing to herself. "And just think, Rutherford...it's you're own ridiculous obsession with choices that got you here. If you hadn't coddled your precious Hope so much, you'd be safely in his Web right now, instead of in Hizumi-sama's hands."

Eyes knew that she was right, but no matter how much he hurt for it, no matter how much it might be true that he'd made a bad decision regarding Ayumu, he felt no guilt for it. He wouldn't bend to forcing the boy against his will, especially not now. "If it's...my fault...I alone pay...the price..."

Hizumi moved his hands, listening with relish as Eyes dragged in a real, shaking breath.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, as if having heard something particularly foolish. "You alone? What makes you think that just you will suffer? You're a Pillar to Little Narumi's Web. If you and that little redheaded twit you're so fond of are destroyed, then there will be nothing Little Narumi can do for any of the Blade Children. Your bad choice has doomed your entire purpose."

Eyes clenched his teeth. "If you assume you can destroy us that easily, then it is you that are foolish for underestimating us..." His vision was black around the edges, and he didn't like it. No matter how strong his words might sound, he was more than aware of how helpless he was here.

Hizumi laughed softly. "Oh, I fully admit to underestimating you, Eyes Rutherford. Once. That is why I have taken extra precautions now. Thank you for teaching me how to be prepared to deal with you." He closed his eyes, whispering another quiet spell. The globe in his hands flared brighter, making Eyes let out a cry of surprise. Light washed over him, leaving in its wake the beautiful marks of his true nature, silvery ears slightly flattened against Eyes's skull, the tail twitching on the seat, next to him. Growling, Eyes bared small, sharp fangs.

"Though speaking of shared suffering," Cassandra murmured, "won't Asazuki feel Rutherford's pain? They're still connected, and so long as Rutherford's pets have the technomage, they have fast transportation anywhere."

"Well, that might be true if I hadn't thought to cloak him once he was within range," Hizumi said, eyeing up the kitsune that was now before him.

"In answer to your question," Justin mentioned after getting a good look at Eyes's other form. "Just dumping him on Master Kanone's bed would be quite unceremonious. Perhaps we should truss him up like the pet that he is. Perhaps a collar for Kanone's ownership and a leash to ensure that wherever he goes, Rutherford will have no choice but to follow."

The next glare from Eyes was shot at Justin, who still looked indifferent..

Cassandra let out a small squeal of delight, clapping her hands together happily. "What a wonderful idea! Kanone-chan would love that!" She got up to walk over, taking a close look at Eyes, absently reaching out to touch the soft silvery ears. "Hm. Not black. There's already too much of it. Maybe blue? Or perhaps something in burgundy...wait, no. Kanone-chan's been rather biased against the reddish hues lately."

Eyes flicked his ears away from her touch, growling low in the back of his throat, an instinctive warning.

Hizumi, finished now with the soul he held, gave it one last touch before shoving it back where it belonged, leaving Eyes panting once more in his seat.

Cassandra looked at him. "Do you have enough power to create a leash and collar for us, or should we stop at a pet store somewhere?"

"I can do that for you, and then I will need to rest. Holding a soul for that long is tiring." Hizumi murmured one last spell, creating a collar of blue leather with wards carved on the inside to hold down Eyes's power and the ability to change forms at will. With it came a braided leather leash.

"Perfect!" Cassandra enthused, suddenly all young teenage girl and nothing of a skilled killer. "Thank you, Hizumi-sama! Remind me to make you something nice next time I'm sitting down with my embroidery!" She took the leash and collar, turning to give the gasping captive one last assessing look. "Hm. Justin, can you get rid of that awful vest? Honestly, such gloomy colors! What was with his mother, that Rutherford obsesses with black and Kanone with white? I'm glad I managed to train Kanone otherwise."

_Train?_ No one 'trained' Kanone to do anything. If nothing else, Eyes knew very well that Kanone's will was too strong to be simply 'trained'. He frowned, glaring as Justin got close, growling once more. There still wasn't much movement he could make, and soon the man's hands were on the buckles to his vest, carefully undoing them. Cassandra watched, absently admiring his beauty, but she still felt that he was far more attractive when screaming in pain or gasping in terror. Justin quickly stripped him of the vest, tossing it to the side.

"Better?"

Cassandra nodded and smiled brightly. "Much. You're such a dear, Justin." She then walked over and fastened the collar around Eyes's throat, seeming totally unconcerned by the glare Eyes gave her.

Hizumi watched them, settled into his own seat, quite amused at the musician's situation. He was pleased that they'd gotten a hold of him, and he knew that Kanone would be as well. After all, the prodigy of the Blade Children was finally coming home where he belonged.

ooooo

It was late when Kanone finally tore himself free of his work as overseer of the Blade Children under Hizumi's command, and he headed to his bedroom with the intention of crawling into bed and reading until he passed out cold with the book on his face.

What he found when he got there was infinitely better than a mere novel. Sitting on the plush Oriental rug at the foot of his bed was one very put-out looking Eyes Rutherford. He wore nothing but his leather pants and a quaint blue collar, the leash of which was pooled in his lap. It looked as if the boy, now in his kitsune form, was trying to ignore everything around him, not even looking up at Kanone as he walked in. Truth be told, Eyes had been trying to steel himself for this encounter ever since the jet took flight, and he wasn't sure he'd succeeded. He had, however, tried every way Imaginable to escape the confines of Kanone's room, despite that it had been well protected by either the vampire's defenses or Hizumi's.

Kanone raised an eyebrow, and chuckled. "You know, I'd completely forgotten that Cassandra and Justin were bringing you here tonight." He walked over, crouching down to run one smooth hand over Eyes's pale cheek, the feel of the touch lingering as it always did along the silver youko's senses. "I'll have to remember to do something nice for them later."

"You could start by teaching them manners," Eyes bit back coldly, his response to the trill of the soft touch as it echoed through his body. He still did not look at Kanone, his head slightly turned away.

"They are both quite mannerly when they need to be. But politeness is not necessary when retrieving a disobedient pet, now is it?" Kanone's hand moved to his throat, suddenly squeezing, cutting off Eyes's air. "You're in desperate need of some discipline, I'd say."

Sapphire eyes snapped open, looking viciously at Kanone, breath caught in his throat. Fangs were bared now, and now that the numbness was gone, he did struggle to get away.

However, Kanone was a vampire, and far stronger than Eyes. He held him easily, merely tightening his grip on Eyes's neck a little more to stop his struggles. "You might as well give up. By the time this night is over, you will be mine wholly, just like you were two years ago."

Eyes stilled, but his gaze was still bright with anger. "I don't belong to you, Kanone. Why can't you just accept that?" he rasped, knowing that the pressure applied would leave bruises, and he felt the collar digging in under the brunette's hand.

"Because you do belong to me," Kanone replied, tone perfectly reasonable. He let go of Eyes's throat, the hand moving down to take hold of the leash. His other hand moved to brush against those sensitive fox ears.

Eyes was breathing through his clenched teeth now, making a soft hissing sound. He hated this, hated it with a sense so strong it should have had a force of his own. He knew that he wasn't as physically strong as Kanone, but the urge to jump him and try to claw himself away from the man was very tempting. "I belong to no one." His ears twitched, trying to avoid the touch, but when it didn't work, the pleasant sensations that came in response only made Eyes that much more angry.

"Is that so?" the brunette murmured, his hand leaving the youko's ears to trail down his neck and dig into his shoulders. Kanone knew Eyes's body like no other, and while the shoulders weren't a pleasure center, putting pressure on them did make the other boy go limp, no matter what.

Eyes groaned softly as he felt that boneless sensation slither through his body as it already begun its traitorous descent to Kanone's control. "It is so. Owning my body is different from owning my soul."

"Well, of course. Your soul belongs to Hizumi. Your mind and body are what belong to me." Kanone murmured, moving both of those damnably skilled hands down his bare torso now, already knowing that Eyes's own nature as a youko would work against him here, because they were so in tune with the pleasures of the flesh.

Shivering, Eyes had to suck in a sharp breath, already feeling the kitsune within him waking to the caresses. No wonder Hizumi had brought out this side of him, it only helped Kanone's control. "Think what you will."

"If you truly have no ties to me, why is it you can't bring yourself to pull away?" Kanone mocked, one hand moving to a sensitive hip while the other moved to his lower back, fingers digging into the soft fur at the base of his tail.

A soft touch of red came to the musician's cheeks as he turned his head even farther away. "You know exactly why, and it has nothing to do with what I want. You're a creature of manipulation and always have been."

Kanone smirked, scraping his nails lightly against the sensitive skin under the fur of Eyes's tail. His other hand merely rested against his hip, the fingers rubbing small circles in the skin just above the waistline of his pants, sparking little fires of sensation through the pale silk.

Eyes couldn't help the defenseless moan that left his lips. He hated his ears and tail more than he thought he ever could, knowing that the youko heritage was only assisting Kanone's point. His body arched to the sensations, his head tipping back. _Kousuke...._ The redhead came to mind then, and the anger rose once more. He didn't belong to Kanone, but perhaps it wasn't true that no one owned a part of him. _Ayumu_... He wanted to belong to them, not Kanone...

Kanone was not bothered by the claim that Eyes didn't want this. He knew that soon enough, the silver-haired boy would be begging for more, needing it as much as he needed air to breathe or water to drink. He continued to touch Eyes, the pressure of each caress never harder than a light scratch as his hands traveled over the pale body, but more than enough to fan those unwilling flames of desire. He played Eyes's body like a fine instrument, knowing all the places that would get a reaction, whether he wanted to hear a soft moan or a desperate cry.

Eyes alternately hated and loved every minute of it, and he knew which parts of him had which reaction. His body played the tune of Kanone's commands, arching up to his hand or shivering when it the skin or fur was touched just right. Eyes wouldn't look at him, not wanting to see the satisfaction on his captor's face as he wrenched out those sounds, those desires. He felt like he was on fire, a fire that felt cold as ice in the centre and burned him outwards.

Kanone watched him, admiring how the light glittered over Eyes's pale skin and the slight flush that was slowly becoming darker along that snowy expanse. He leaned forward, crushing his mouth against the other boy's, claiming it as he would soon claim the rest of him.

"M-mmph!" Eyes squirmed against the almost painful force of Kanone's lips against his own, whimpering in spite of himself. It wasn't about pride anymore, it was about surviving the night without completely losing himself, and he wasn't sure how possible that was anymore. He had no resources to fight with, and even that of his nature which should have made him more powerful against the opposition only served to weaken him to Kanone's attentions.

Kanone smiled into the kiss, deepening it as much as he could, as if trying to steal Eyes's very breath from him. His hands continued to tease, trapping the other boy within a cage of his own sexual desire.

Clawed hands lifted to Kanone's shoulders, Eyes feeling the momentary temptation to dig in, to make the brunette bleed for this humiliation. But he held back, sprawled with his knees wide apart. His tail raised slightly as if the kitsune in him knew that a mate was nearby, an alpha at that. Eyes wanted to curse, to yell, to bite, but he didn't dare, kissing back only to keep from being utterly plundered by Kanone's persistent tongue.

Kanone finally broke the kiss, but only to move down to Eyes's pale throat, leaving a burning trail with his teeth and tongue. He was tempted to wrap a hand in that soft silver hair, to pull Eyes's head back and bare more of that throat, but decided against it. It would be a sweeter victory when Eyes himself gave way, all of his walls crumbling down in the wake of desperate need and youko instincts.

The shivers took Eyes by storm now, making him gasp softly, breathlessly as the delicious feel of a mouth giving him attention took over his senses. The youko delighted in the heat and wetness of Kanone kissing his skin, nibbling it, and Eyes squirmed accordingly. The mewl that rose in his throat sounded like need and denial as he felt an aching heat build between his legs.

Kanone answered the mewl by brushing his fangs over the silver youko's racing pulse, but no more than that. His touches stayed at a teasing lightness, never wandering past the waistline. For Eyes to get more, he would have to beg, whether it be with words or body. Kanone could be patient in this, knowing that Eyes wouldn't last very long before losing himself.

He put up a hell of a fight against his instincts, trying to fill his mind with thoughts of the other two, Kousuke and Ayumu, but that worked against him as the kitsune craved the affection Eyes had come to expect from them. And when the only answer happened to be Kanone, it settled for that and desired more. Eyes moaned loudly, arching his body forward, almost eager to feel those fleeting teeth once more.

Kanone chuckled, his breath washing hot over the other boy's pale skin, fangs digging in just a little, teasing and tormenting as the brunette waited for Eyes to bare his throat to him. It took a moment, but after that taste of what he could have, Eyes couldn't stop himself. He remembered what it was like to be bitten, how good it felt. A whimper left him as he tipped his head back and to the side. He would pay no attention to the tears that tried to sting the backs of his eyes. The victory of the moment was so sweet as to almost eclipse the flavor of Eyes's life as Kanone bit down hard, fangs sinking deep into flesh. He drank deeply of the other boy, hands now twining in the soft silver hair, rubbing at the base of the fox ears.

"Aaaaahnnn..!" The moan that followed was low and sultry, released in a sigh of pleasure and relief that Kanone had done what he supposedly wanted. He melted against the other warm body, the hands on his shoulders shaking as they slid around to embrace Kanone, hold him close while he fed. Kanone fed for a while longer, then pulled away, catching Eyes's mouth in another deep kiss, sharing the flavor of the blood. For a moment, Eyes struggled against it, not wanting that taste, but the kitsune urges were stronger, compelling him to kiss back, delve his tongue deep into Kanone's mouth to get more. Kanone eagerly participated, encouraging Eyes as he lost himself in what he did to him. His hands traveled down his body again, over his chest and belly to once more linger just above the waistline of his pants. Again, he would not let it go further until Eyes begged.

A whimper could be heard in the throes of the kiss, Eyes rising up a little on his knees to offer his hips in an eager thrust forward. Inwardly, the pale Blade Child cringed at the way he succumbed to the pleasure. Kanone pretended not to notice, breaking the kiss to nibble down the unbitten side of his neck, his hands moving down over the soft heated leather encasing Eyes's legs, but never going where the need was strongest.

"Nnn.... please..." he gasped, then immediately bit his tongue, wishing he hadn't voiced the need. He didn't want it...he didn't want it to be Kanone, but his body didn't care who it was, only that it would touch him.

"Hmm?" Kanone murmured, leaning up to whisper against one delicate ear. "Please what, Eyes? What do you need?" His hands continued to torment, taking hold of the other Blade Child's sensitive hips in a light grip.

"Touch me..." he answered before he could stop himself, his voice husky with carefully cultivated desire. One hand lowered from Kanone's shoulder to cover the other's hand. Eyes's hips thrust forward again in offering. "Here..." He moved to guide the brunette's skilled fingers where he needed...wanted to feel them.

Kanone did as directed, squeezing gently at the clothed hardness. He was most pleased with how quickly Eyes had crumbled under his hands, and it wouldn't be long before he could claim the silver beauty again as his own. Eyes let out a low, throaty moan of pleasure, rolling his hips to Kanone's touch. His own hand followed the kneading movement of the other Blade Child's hand for a moment before moving upward, dragging his claws lightly along the bared skin of his arm. Perhaps the youko understood its position as beta, but that didn't mean that he couldn't administer his own pleasure in return. Kanone shuddered, Eyes having hit upon one of his usually well-hidden erogenous zones. However, he'd worn short sleeves today, and left the area open to exploration.

Immediately, the other picked up on it, now bringing the other hand into play and using his claws to delicately torture the one who held him captive. Eyes felt betrayed as all sense left him back into his old ways, the familiar mindset that he had to please Kanone coming back to him in a rush. He leaned forward, not only pushing himself that much further into the warm grip between his legs, but closing the distance so that he could nuzzle the other Blade Child's neck, drawing his tongue along the clean line of his throat.

"Mmm..." Kanone murmured, enjoying the wet warmth of that skilled tongue, "Very good. You're such a good pet, remembering all your duties." He rewarded Eyes by undoing the fastening to the pants and lowering the zipper, freeing his erection from a confinement that had probably been just short of maddening.

Had there been no sexual provocation, no desire hanging in the air at all, Eyes might have growled and snapped at such presumptuous praise. But drowned as he was it encouraged him more than he cared to admit, and he let out a loud cry as the attention to his length became skin-to-skin, the flesh already quite hard in Kanone's hand. Kanone smiled, nibbling lightly at the edge of one silver ear and tightening his grip on Eyes's length just a little, stroking very slowly against the soft skin. Eyes slid his hands over Kanone's shoulders and chest, reaching around to grip the other's hips. His mouth feasted on the brunette's neck, just over his heartbeat, as had been done to him. All the while, his hips thrust lightly and rhythmically into the grip of warm fingers.

Kanone gave a very soft moan at the feel of lips on his throat, but pulled away before Eyes could take it into his mind to mark him. That was more power than he was willing to allow the other. Instead, he moved to the unmarked side of Eyes's neck, nipping sharply, an unspoken command for room so that he could bite again. This time, Eyes followed it without hesitation, dropping his head back and to the side, wishing he could have bitten Kanone in the same way. But something deep in the back of his mind scolded him, saying that it was not his place. Kanone bit harder this time, actively marking him as his own. At the same time, he placed a firm grip on the base of Eyes's erection. The silver-haired boy had already been fairly close, and Kanone did not want to risk him coming this early in the game. The sound that left the Blade Child was a cross between a yowl and a whimper, having felt the jolt of an orgasm rush his spine, but get abruptly stayed by Kanone's hand. He leaned forward, eagerly offering, quietly begging for more. Kanone didn't relent, his grip remaining firm even as he dug his fangs deeper into that pale throat. He wanted to claim Eyes totally, take him and make him his again. And the only way Eyes would get that was by begging for it.

It hurt, but at the same time it felt so good. That was the curse of immortal bites, no matter how much pain they caused to the flesh, the simply pure carnal pleasure was like no other experience. He groaned loudly, using his grip on Kanone to pull him practically on top of him, laying back. "Please..." he said again, raspy tone full of need and lust. Kanone didn't even bother to vocally ask for clarification. All he did was pull back from the bite and look into those lust-darkened sapphire eyes, waiting. "You haven't fully claimed me...." Eyes pointed out, and some part of him knew that it was the youko beta speaking more than it was him. "You will....won't you, Kanone....?" His voice was a breathy whisper as he stretched out on the carpet, offering himself in a subtle raise of his hips.

Kanone gave a devilish smile, running his thumb over the tip of Eyes's length. "Perhaps...if you can tell me why I should."

"I thought that was what you wanted, Kanone...to have me back for good." He ran a hand down the brunette's lovely, possessive cheek. "I want you to claim me..."

Kanone smirked, moving away from Eyes's hold and taking hold of the leash, giving it a light tug. "On the bed. This will be done properly or not at all."

Eyes was up again almost instantly in response to the little pull on the leash. "As you like." He crawled the short distance to the bed and slid up onto it with all the sensual grace that was in his blood.

Kanone watched, his gaze heated as he followed the smooth movements of the one he currently held in thrall. Eyes had lost himself in Kanone's hands, buried somewhere under the helpless lust, and had fallen so perfectly back into the role he had filled before attempting to run from Fate. And Kanone had no intention of letting Eyes calm down enough to regain his will. He walked over, taking hold of the silver youko's leather pants and tugging, another silent command.

Eyes understood from much practice what that was supposed to mean and he shifted so that he could push them off and kick them away. Fully nude now, still on his hands and knees at the centre of the bed, his tail lashed back and forth slowly, an invitation that the youko did not want to be in the bed alone. He gave a coy smile that wasn't quite his own, the way he used to look under Kanone's emotional trappings, ears flickering.

Kanone settled onto the bed in front of Eyes, a possessive smile of his own on his face as he looked at his now willing captive. He reached out, pulling Eyes into another deep kiss, hands moving to trace the elegant line of the other boy's back, ending at the area just above the tail and digging in his nails.

"Nnng!" Eyes fumbled against him, grasping Kanone tight as he arched his back. His tailbone was sensitive now, thanks to the additional appendage, and he made that well known as he hungrily kissed back. Kanone didn't hold it long, just taking enough time to leave Eyes breathless. Then he turned his attention briefly to removing his own clothes.

Eyes leaned back on his heels, tilting his head. He didn't know if he should make an offer to help or wait not-so-patiently, the silvery-white fluff of his tail sweeping across the bed in slow motions. It did cross Kanone's mind, but he decided against it. He felt they'd both waited long enough for what came next, and he could get off his clothes much faster alone. Past experience encouraged Eyes to keep his hands lowered to his sides, though the temptation was there to touch himself as he watched the progression of Kanone's movements. His eyes drank in the body that had always been familiar to him, memories of how that body felt under his hands, over his skin, stirring up even more desire that made him clench his fists to keep still.

Once nude, Kanone grabbed Eyes and rolled him over so that he was on his back with the brunette kneeling above him. Without warning, he went down on the silver fox, pinning his hips to keep the other boy still. The walls of inhibition had indeed crumbled when Eyes let out a very loud cry at the sudden sheath of heat that captured him. His claws dug into the bedcovers as he strained against Kanone's grip. The vampire's strength held him nearly immobile, however, which added a fine tremble to the graceful body. Kanone continued to hold him immobile, remembering from past encounters how not being able to move or touch his partner tended to drive Eyes to desperation before long. And he very much wanted for Eyes to be at fever pitch when he finally took him.

What part of him could move was already thrashing on the bed, his arms gathering under him so that he could lean up a little to watch Kanone's mouth. He was breathing heavily, a light sheen of sweat breaking out over his skin. "K-Kanone...!"

Kanone just chuckled, the vibrations added to the pleasure already there as the brunette continued to work at the iron-silken erection. But somewhere in the back of Eyes's mind, something wasn't sitting right...like the wet caresses against his length should have been..._rougher_, somehow... He tried to figure out why he would think that, when all his previous memories of Kanone were nothing but smooth, hot possession. He pondered it another moment before pushing it to the side to concentrate on what was being done to him, beginning to purr as well. Kanone worked Eyes until he'd brought him just to the very edge, and then pulled away, leaving the silver-haired boy gasping as the brunette reached for the lotion he kept on a nearby shelf.

Eyes made a noise of frustration, keeping his fingers still tightly holding the blankets so that he wouldn't give in to the temptation of finishing the job. That would make Kanone horribly upset with him, and that was the last thing he wanted. His blue eyes followed the brunette quite earnestly. Kanone coated himself with the lotion quickly, not bothering to prepare Eyes. Not only would it probably send the youko over the edge, but in Kanone's opinion, he didn't really need it, either. Eyes was hardly a virgin in need of coddling. Once finished, he put the lotion away and moved to once more settle between Eyes's legs, the tip of his length at the boy's entrance. As if to prove Kanone's point, Eyes helped him a little by laying back again, lifting his knees and spreading them wide for the brunette. He still panted heavy, knowing what was coming and feeling like he needed it more than anything that moment.

Kanone had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He took hold of Eyes's legs, pushing them just a bit farther apart, and entered him in one hard thrust, letting out a loud moan as the hot sheath closed tightly around him. Eyes screamed at the abrupt claiming, but it wasn't all that unpleasant. He had been used to taking things a little rough, and this hardly bothered him. That rush of pain-pleasure stained his cheeks a dark red, his eyes bright with desire as he tightened himself even further for Kanone. Kanone growled his pleasure, starting a fast hard pace. He leaned over, sucking hard at one of Eyes's nipples, having very much enjoyed the sound of the other boy's scream, and wanting to cause more.

The way Kanone hovered over him now just made the angle of his thrusts deeper, dragging more cries with each push into Eyes's body. There was no way for the musician to gain any kind of control back now, helpless to fight against the pleasure and prisoner to Kanone's power over him. Kanone shifted his angle slightly, knowing exactly where to strike to hit Eyes's prostate, and thrust as hard as he could. However, he also clasped his hand around the base of the youko's erection, once again cutting off any hope of climax. Another yowl of frustration left the him, Eyes whimpering and writhing against Kanone. It felt so good that he didn't want the other to stop, and yet the pleasure just kept growing and burning inside him. He felt like he was being scalded from this inside, liquid heat racing through him each time Kanone slid home against that spot. Before long, he was screaming, begging his alpha to show him mercy.

"Mine," Kanone growled in his ear, his thrusts becoming even harder as he neared his own release, "you are _mine_!"

"Y-yes...yours...Kanone!" Eyes managed to gasp between his fevered cries. He could barely think anymore, the pleasure of everything overcoming his senses.

Kanone reached the edge of his limits, letting out a shout as he came against that spot deep inside Eyes. With the last coherent thought in his head, he let go of the other boy, allowing him to reach his own pinnacle. Eyes reached up to clutch at Kanone, dragging him down for a kiss as he came, body jerking beneath the brunette's as the warm rush dappled their skin, leaving Eyes spent and panting.

ooooo

Kanone savored the kiss for a moment, but then pulled back to gather Eyes in his arms. As tender as the scene might have been to an outsider, the real reason for it was that Kanone knew that once Eyes came down from the afterglow, he'd be facing reality that he was once more in Kanone's hold, and just might get violent. Thus holding down his arms was a good idea.

The musician remained still in Kanone's arms for several minutes, save the fine tremble to his frame as he calmed down from the orgasm. The realization of what had happened hit Eyes the moment the haze of pleasure cleared, and it became apparent in the low growl that rumbled in the back of his throat, humiliation and rage practically sizzling along his entire being.

Kanone was not intimidated by the rage, merely keeping a firm hold on the other boy. "You can snarl all you like, but it doesn't change the fact that I still own you more completely than even the two that you wish would claim you. You're mine, Eyes, by your own words and deeds. You'll never be free of me."

"If you have to rely on your manipulation just to keep me, then you're even more of a coward than I thought. First you let people think they can 'train' you, and now you think that you can just take what you want, when you want? I hate you... I _hate_ you..." he hissed.

Kanone just smiled, mocha eyes amused as he brushed a kiss along the tense jaw line. "Is it me you hate so much...or yourself? You were the one who gave in. You have no one to blame but yourself."

Eyes snapped his fangs viciously at Kanone. That he couldn't answer that without a second of thought, and guilt, only fueled his anger. "You made me like this!"

"Yes, I did. And you consented to it at that time. You're the one who claimed to have broken away from me, Eyes. If you were wrong, that is hardly my fault, is it?"

"You can duck whatever blame you want, but if I'm accountable, then so are you. Now let me _go_!"

"No. You are mine, and I can hold you as I see fit." He smirked, his expression gaining a cruel tint. "If you are so very strong on your own, why don't you make me let go? Of course, one can't be sure of just what sort of reception you'll find at the hands of Asazuki and Little Narumi after this. What could they possibly think about someone who willingly lies with an enemy...even begs for him?"

Eyes saw red, jamming his elbow hard into Kanone's chest. "_Ich hasse Sie_!" he snapped, slipping into German, the language only really used when anger overtook him. He'd heard Kanone speak it enough to pick up on the words, and it seemed to have more of an edge to it than English did.

Kanone didn't even flinch. He just chuckled. "And as I asked before, is it me you hate, or yourself?"

"Haven't you tormented him enough, Kanone?" Hizumi's velvety voice murmured from the doorway. He watched this with a rather amused expression on his face, arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that both of them were still naked and damp from their previous exertions.

Kanone looked up at him, not seeming to worry much about it, either. "What can I say? Rebellion is cute, but it's a stage that I prefer to get over with quickly. The tears of acceptance are much prettier to look at."

"Perhaps he will cry when he knows I've lowered the shields around this place now, so that the connection he has with Asazuki has been re-established. That poor thing will know just how much of a weak little whore Rutherford really is."

The snarled retort died in Eyes's throat as the full effect of Hizumi's words sank in, those sapphire orbs widening and the slit only the tiniest sliver in an ocean of troubled blue.

Kanone raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Just how long has the connection been active, Hizumi? I would have made more of an effort, had I known I had an audience."

"You're welcome to give another performance if you like," Hizumi laughed. "But I lowered the shields once you were inside him."

"Hm. _That_ must have been quite a wake-up call..." the brunette murmured, his tone musing.

"Bastards.... bloody bastards..." Eyes growled, lowering his gaze so he wouldn't have to see their smug expressions.

The connection, as always, went two ways, and Eyes could feel Kosuke now, however distantly. He could sense the redhead's distress, flickering along the remains of their Web like candle flames in a high wind. The other Blade Child was terrified, angry, and disgusted. But there was too much distance between them to know exactly what the target of each particular emotion was. The one thing Eyes could tell was that on the other end, Kosuke was crying.

That seemed to crumble any of Eyes's hard-won resolve, and his body jerked slightly with the sob that he refused to let them hear. He wanted to throw up his own shields and hide away, and it only frustrated him more when he couldn't concentrate enough to do it.

Kanone felt the jerk, however, and chuckled. "Why so sad, Eyes? I'm sure Asazuki will get over it, with time. He's proven so amazingly resilient, after all. Who knows? He may even forgive you, some day."

"Shut up. I don't need your bloody comfort, Kanone," Eyes growled, knowing he'd lost when the first teardrop fell onto the arm encircling him so tightly.

"No," Kanone agreed with a sigh, "and after tonight, you never will again. Hizumi, I assume you're here for a reason?"

"As always," Hizumi replied, now stepping into the room. He heard the growl that came from Eyes as he approached, like a dog that had caught the scent of danger coming near, and he chuckled. "It is my turn to claim him."

Lightning fast, the pianist's head snapped up, eyes wild with the warning. Kanone was one thing, he couldn't fight the one that had taken him over so thoroughly he was helpless. Hizumi had no such advantage, which meant that Eyes wouldn't hesitate to claw him bloody. He writhed in Kanone's arms.

Kanone sighed and held him down. "Sorry about his behavior. It's been rather a while since he's had the benefit of regular training, so he's a bit savage."

"It's presumptuous of him to think that I would soil myself with him in that way," Hizumi said with a snort. "My claiming is a little more...complete than a mere coupling."

Eyes stilled, his skin cold as he watched Hizumi warily. "What are you talking about?"

Kanone sighed, and when he spoke, his tone was one of someone speaking to a not-so-intelligent child. "Hizumi controls Fate, Eyes. He's the one who gathers Blade Children who have awakened, and adds them to his Web."

"That makes him an advocate of Fate, but not the cause," Eyes growled back.

"Not necessarily, for I can be the cause of Fate for you, dear Rutherford." Hizumi reached out, taking a not-so-gentle hold of one of the silvery ears. "Or have you forgotten that your kitsune side is a result of your Awakening?"

Eyes hissed through his teeth.

"And right now, there is nothing anchoring the fragments of the Web that protects you. The Hope is not there...just Asazuki." Kanone added.

A frigid chill gripped Eyes now as the truth of it sunk in. If Hizumi had the same skill as Ayumu, and the will to use it, he might not be able to elude it.

"And now you understand," Hizumi said with another laugh.

Eyes turned to look at Kanone, as if he couldn't believe the other would let it happen.

Kanone just smiled. "And once Hizumi has you, I won't have to worry about you running off to chase hopeless causes or young fools far below your station."

Eyes wanted to have a response for those cruel words, but the fear was all he knew now, turning to look up at Hizumi.

"Don't be afraid, Eyes," Hizumi murmured, running his fingers along parted lips and tear-stained cheeks. The gesture was cruelly gentle. "You won't know the pain once you've been taken in. You'll never hurt again."

"And we'll always be together." Kanone added, nuzzling at Eyes's hair.

On the edges of his mind, Eyes could still feel Kosuke. The redhead seemed to have picked up on his terror, and was trying to reach him, trying to establish more direct contact, despite the distance between them or the possibility of hurting himself by overextending his gifts. But it was still too far away...

"Kanone...no.... please don't let him do this!" Eyes wasn't too proud to beg now, squirming as more tears ran down his face. He couldn't control them, and didn't care about trying. _KOUSUKE! _his mind screamed, trying as hard as he could to meet the connection the other was working at as well.

"This is what we were all born for, Eyes. Just relax and give in to your destiny." Kanone murmured, and looked up at Hizumi. "He's all yours."

The sense that was Kousuke continued to strain towards him, but it still wasn't far enough. That glimmer of crimson stretched itself thinner and thinner, trying to touch him, to hold them together. It was like the barest brushing of their outstretched fingertips...

Hizumi's hand settled lightly onto Eyes's forehead….


	24. Chapter 24

That Title: The Epic

Chapter: 24/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Notes/Warnings: You really thought we were going to leave you there didn't you? Thought you'd have to wait another year to see what happens, didn't you? HA! We figured to make up for having to wait this long, we'd post two chapters instead of just one so that we wouldn't leave you in suspense. See? We're not entirely mean…

Summary: At a time when things seem broken and hopeless, help arrives, and it's armed.

// = flashback

ooooo

Hizumi's hand settled lightly onto Eyes's forehead...

...and the world exploded in his mind. Eyes screamed as he saw himself standing in a mist of severed threads, straining for the centre that should have been the Hope. But there was no light there, no golden glow like he remembered seeing while helping to free Little Narumi's mind. A silver-green light, tainted around the edges in burnt crimson, hunted Eyes. He turned to run to the broken strands, holding tight to the faded presence of Kousuke, but he didn't make it very far before Hizumi's light claimed him, wrapping around him tightly and keeping him in place. Eyes fought and strained to get away, but he felt the presence of something so dark it was colder than even he could imagine, the feeling inching up his spine like blades of ice.

_Fate... _he named it, never knowing a fear like this.

_Eyes!_ Kosuke wailed, the presence of the other section of the remaining Web grasping desperately for him, trying to feed him strength and keep him safe, even across such a long distance. Desperation and the feel of their bonds snapping had given him some strength to reach, but it was pitiful when compared to the force of Hizumi's Web.

The image of Hizumi appeared in Eyes's mind now that the strand of his power held the musician. He stepped up behind the silver-haired Blade Child, now _his_ Blade Child, taking a handful of the silky mane as the other arm wrapped around Eyes's waist. He yanked the pretty head back, baring him to the darkness.

_"Blade Child.....that of my flesh and blood, conception of evolution and the embodiment of rebirth...."  
_

Eyes screamed again, and this time, it was Ayumu's name.

_"...embrace this as your true soul, your only purpose. May your Fate fill you and strengthen you...."_

The warm crimson of Kosuke's aura finally touched Eyes, trying to wrap around his soul and keep him safe from the blood-tainted darkness that he had known all too well, back when he had first come home from the Hunter. _Hold on to me! _he begged Eyes, _Try to fight it! We can't lose you..._I_ can't lose you..._

"Kousuke...." Eyes murmured, feeling the tears on his face as he felt the touch of warmth.

Hizumi's eyes flashed red at the very audacity that someone would interrupt. The bonds around Eyes's soul flared up searing the touch of Kousuke's mind, driving it back.

"No!"

_"...this world will be your hunting ground, and you will breathe my will... When all is said and done, the ashes finally settled, Fate will lead us to a new world... _my _world..."  
_

Eyes felt the darkness crawling into him, covering him like a chill mist, seeping into his skin and penetrating his being like nothing he'd ever felt before.

_Eyes...!_ Kosuke's voice was a wail of despair and pain as he tried to hold on. But his strength was nowhere near what was needed to take on a Mindbreaker, especially on his home turf.

_"...and like one returning from a journey, you enter this Web, embrace Fate, and rise up. For now, you are Home."  
_

Once Fate had breached Eyes's soul, it ripped through him with all the force of a firestorm. Memories were uprooted and blown away one by one, the fragile chord of conscience burned away, leaving behind the basic will to survive at all costs. Bright tears streamed down Eyes's face as he watched everything strip away, sobbing as he fell to it. But even that didn't last long, the cries quieted by an uncanny calm, the will of one who knew of only one purpose. Fate cloaked him, leaving Eyes with only his name, the identities of the only two that were allowed control of him, and the knowledge that soon, he would create a new world with his 'brothers' and 'sisters'. Until then, anyone who stood in their way would be removed from the Plan, erased. Eyes Rutherford was one of the Blade Children, the _true_ Blade Children.

_No! _the faint voice of Kosuke cried, but the last vestiges of that connection were fraying badly, as the last of Ayumu's Web fell away.

Kanone looked down at the silver-haired boy in his arms, noting that the struggles had stopped. He smiled. "Nothing will part you from me now, Eyes. You belong to us."

Inside the musician's soul, Hizumi finally loosened his grip, moving to stand before him. "It clings to you with pathetic desperation," he pointed out, indicating the last fibers of the connection with Kousuke.

Eyes turned an empty gaze to it, moving his hand as if he were wielding his katana, and the effect was about the same, severing the ties with no remorse. He had no need of such weak bonds in the new world.

"Good," Hizumi praised, reaching up to touch Eyes's face proudly. "I expect no less than perfection from my dearest prodigy. Let us return to Kanone."

Hizumi's eyes opened first, and his complacent expression was weary as well. He lowered his hand from Eyes's head, revealing the gaze that was devoid of defiance. Eyes knew that Hizumi was his master, and when he looked at Kanone, he recognized the second and only other person his will would let him obey. As if he were finally content, he lay his head on the brunette's shoulder.

"I promised you a reward, did I not?" Hizumi asked of Kanone, smiling sweetly.

Kanone smiled, running a caressing finger over the line of Eyes's jaw. "Yes, you did. And I am very happy with it."

"See that you take special care of my finest work." And with that, Hizumi was gone.

ooooo

Kosuke had been helping Rio and Riku teach Ayumu some basic self defense when Hizumi's cloak first came down. He'd been swamped by a sense of overwhelming need and desire, pleasure and pain. Under those feelings, though, buried deep, had been fear, anger, and hatred. Kosuke had fallen to his knees, unable to focus on the real world, not hearing any of his companions calling his name in increasingly worried tones. All he knew was that Eyes had been raped in the most evil and subversive way he could imagine, and only one person he knew could do that. And then the pleasure had stopped, and the pain and anger became worse, adding horrible guilt and absolute terror to the mix. Kosuke had tried to reach for Eyes, not liking the feel of his lover in fear. But it had been too little, too late. By the time he finally managed to get a tentative connection, Fate was tearing Eyes apart. He'd been yanked right out of Kosuke's hold, and the redhead had been helpless to stop it. The last of the connection had been destroyed by Eyes himself, and Kosuke had felt that sapphire soul go so cold and empty...

He didn't know when he'd started screaming, only that he was, long keening wails interspersed with Eyes's name.

Ayumu had only a vague awareness of what was happening. To the best of his knowledge, he could tell that something had gone terribly wrong, and that something had everything to do with Eyes. He'd been at Kousuke's side in no time, but any attempts to find out what was happening were stalled by the fact that the redhead had already gone into his own mind, probably trying to reach the musician, wherever he was. Ayumu wasn't about to lie when he said that watching Kousuke break down was frightening. Even in the worst that he'd seen the redhead, he'd never quite been this hysterical, and Ayumu felt real fear not only for him, but for Eyes as well. The only help he could offer was to hold Kousuke the way he'd been held when he thought his own world was coming down, and he kept his embrace tight, hoping to somehow lend some stability.

Kosuke sobbed helplessly in Ayumu's arms, aching from the soul outward. He'd stretched himself too far to try and keep Eyes safe, and both he and Hizumi had swatted the redhead like a fly. And now Eyes was gone from them. How could anyone reclaim a Blade Child from Fate?

Rio hovered nearby with Riku, trying to give the two a little space, though she herself was terrified. There was very little she could think of that would break Kosuke down like that. Riku stayed close to Rio, with her hand steady on the smaller girl's shoulder. Something really bad had happened, and she wanted to know what it was and who she should be beating the crap out of.

Ayumu had nothing to say that would comfort Kousuke or not sound trite in the moment. He still didn't know for sure what had happened, so the best thing he could do was be as much of an anchor as he could, rubbing small circles on Kousuke's back. "Tell me..." he murmured against the other's ear. "...please..."

Kosuke swallowed hard and took a shuddering breath, trying to hold back the sobs long enough to sound coherent. He wasn't entirely sure how well it worked. "Kanone...Kanone had him...I didn't even know until it was all too late to stop! Eyes was so scared...because Kanone made him want it...and...and..." Kosuke suddenly faltered, the memory of what came next still wrapping him in his own terror and despair.

Ayumu forced down the anger that rose, knowing full well that his own emotions wouldn't calm Kousuke any if he couldn't control them. Kanone would definitely pay for getting between them again, that much he knew for sure. But there was more to it than that. If it had just been the non-consensual taking, Kousuke would have been quite upset, but the feelings would have been more angry and not this....fear. "What?" Ayumu asked in the most gentle voice he could manage.

Kosuke squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face in Ayumu's shoulder, one pale hand clinging with a white-knuckled grip to his shirt. "We've lost him...Eyes was taken by Fate. I couldn't hold onto him! It was too strong...he was so _scared_...and then...nothing...like his soul had frozen over and hollowed out. It was so cold...and now I can't sense him at all anymore!"

"Fate...?" Ayumu whispered incredulously. It didn't seem possible, that it would claim Eyes without them being able to do a thing about it. And as if he'd understood what the Englishman represented to them all along, he lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut. For Kousuke, and to some extent Rio as well, it must feel like being cut adrift. Even though they worked together, Eyes was their leader...their inspiration. Without his guidance, it would be like stumbling in the dark, trying to find the way home. And for Kousuke, that effect must be fairly double, for he wasn't just a leader to the redhead, he was someone beloved.

Kosuke just sobbed, paralyzed for the moment by his own loss and pain. It felt like half his soul had been torn away from him. He'd grown used to having at least one person connected to him through the Web, and now that he stood alone, it felt achingly empty.  
Rio stood and watched, tears running down her own pale face, but her mind working fast. If there was a way to fix this, it was her that had to find it. Kosuke would be in no shape to think logically.

Ayumu would help her, but first, he had to get Kousuke calmed down even a little. He couldn't deny that the loss hurt him as well, especially since he was trying to figure out everything that he was feeling. Holding back was the best thing right now, so as not to overload Kousuke's senses and heart any more than they already had been taxed. He couldn't help the guilt that he suppressed in the back of his mind, for had he decided sooner whether or not he could handle the Web, he might have been able to prevent Eyes from being taken from them.

Kosuke continued to sob helplessly in Ayumu's arms, his eyes holding the blackest of despair. He knew he should be trying to pull himself back together, if only because Eyes would have hated to see him crying when he should be dealing with this problem, but he just couldn't bring himself to calm down. It was almost like Eyes's terror had taken root in his own, leaving him helpless to do anything but wait it out. And outside the immediate pain, there was the horrible knowledge that the only ways to pull their lost leader from Fate now would either be to force Ayumu's hand—something Eyes would NEVER condone—or death. The thought of striking at Eyes, even for a mercy kill, made Kosuke feel sick.

Ayumu bit his lip, glancing down at Kousuke before looking back up at the two girls helplessly. He didn't know what he could do for Kousuke, or his only resolution seemed like too much at the moment. He needed help, needed a moment to think and digest what he'd just been told. They needed Eyes…  
The pang of it struck him, and he bit harder on his lip. It didn't break skin, but it would bruise, his eyes squeezing shut. They didn't have their leader now, and with Kousuke in this condition, that left things up to him. He wouldn't turn his back on them. Hope or not, he'd promised that to himself and to them, and in spite of what had happened, he wouldn't turn away again. Weakness couldn't be afforded when they were all falling apart.  
"Rio…" he murmured, finding his hand combing through Kousuke's wild crimson hair. "…I…I need help…"

It was a sign to Kosuke's deep distress that he did not start purring at the touch, but only curled up tighter in Ayumu's arms, no longer caring if he looked weak in front of Rio and Riku.

Rio nodded, wiping her eyes. "You have it. Tell me what you need done, and it'll get done."

"I am also here to offer assistance," Jhette's mechanical male soprano declared, the boy's image appearing next to Ayumu. "Please, state how this program may be of use."

"Count me in," Riku added quietly, the smile on her face grim. She was scared, but a little thankful that her attachment to Eyes wasn't as deep as the other three's. It would help her keep a clearer head for Ayumu.

The brunette took a slow, deep breath, still cradling Kousuke in his arms. He wanted to be comforting, and probably would have been more so if they were alone. But now, he felt as if he had a big role to fill, and if he didn't measure up now, he knew he wouldn't have what it took to save them.  
"I need every available resource I can get at the moment," he said, his brow furrowed, already racing to come up with a plan. "That means that I'll need Hiyono too. Jhette, it looks like we're taking another trip overseas, I'll want coordinates and travel times. I wasn't…last time I really didn't pay attention. I don't know if anything can be done to save him or not, but we're going to try anyway." Ayumu's voice managed to sound strong in spite of the way he trembled inside. He was scared of being too late, guilty that he might have been the cause of their loss. He couldn't let them see that though. He would see this as a test of his true strength. "If someone managed to take him down well enough to get him overseas, then we're up against one or more people with skills like that of a Hunter."

Riku remembered Rio telling her about Cassandra's attempt on Ayumu, and she frowned. "Or we really are going against a Hunter, and if that's the case, we need not only real firepower, but mental strength as well." She didn't say it out loud, but her glance at the very crumbled Kousuke made it apparent she worried about taking him with.

"Assuming that the destination is the same as before, I already have the coordinates needed." Jhette replied. "I will be prepared to transport you whenever preparations are complete."

Ayumu may have been making an effort to hide his emotions, but Riku wasn't, and Kosuke easily picked up on her doubt. He turned enough to glare at her with reddened eyes. "I'm coming. Anyone who tries to stop me gets hurt. Leave me behind, and I'll make you all VERY sorry."

Rio sighed. "We know, Kosuke. We wouldn't try. And since the Huntress Cassandra is probably part of this, we'll need all the help we can get."

Kosuke shuddered at Cassandra's name. "Figures that the nightmare of the Blade Children would start taking an interest in us. This sucks." He burrowed back into Ayumu's arms, desperately needing the stability of the other boy.

Riku held up her hands in her own defense. "I was thinking about your own sanity, Kousuke, not about denying you the privilege of rescuing Eyes." If nothing else, the girl was bluntly honest.

Ayumu once more rubbed Kousuke's back, trying to calm him down before his temper could get a chance to override anything else. Right now, the sadness and fear were bad enough, but the explosive anger would be harder to get control of by far. "Tell me about Cassandra… She's…the one that was in my dreams, right?"

Rio nodded and sat down cross-legged on the floor next to him. "Huntress Cassandra is a name that most Blade Children know, either because they've heard about her, or because they've survived her. She's a Blade Child, like us, but uses her talents to kill other Blade Children because we're more of a challenge. She uses her beauty to get people to underestimate her, but she's a vicious killer. She walks in her victim's dreams to hurt them, but prefers to kill with knives, like Kosuke. She's an expert with poisons, and probably has expertise with a lot more weapons than I can even count."

"The light of Huntress Cassandra is that which blinds and burns," Jhette said, something in the way he said it making it sound as if he was reciting something he had once heard elsewhere, "and her Song brings madness to all but the very strongest in mind and will. Beware the Huntress, for if she does not destroy you, she will surely corrupt you."

Kosuke looked up at the hologram inquisitively. "You've met her?"

Jhette shook his head. "I have not, no. Hunter Samantha did not like her superior. But…someone faceless within my databanks once said that to me. I have never forgotten it."

Ayumu frowned, not liking how that sounded at all. "I can only guess that they're in the same place that they had me. Kanone isn't the type to give up his comfortable home just for the sake of avoiding confrontation. If I've got him figured right, he'd rather stay in place and show off his victory. But this war isn't over yet."

"Damn right it's not," Riku agreed. "And we have to work fast. They'll probably be expecting us, which means we won't be able to get in like we did before."

"The best way in is through the front door, I've always thought," Ayumu said with a firm nod. "But we need something to fight with, we can't just walk in unprepared."

Rio shrugged. "Write up a shopping list, and I'll take care of it. We've got a fairly large arsenal stored here, so we have weaponry, at least. What do you think we'll need?"

Ayumu pondered that question, thinking that some explosives and Uzis might not be a bad idea, but he wasn't sure his sense of humor would be appreciated right now. Especially not if Kousuke decided to take him seriously. He opened his mouth to answer, just at about the time Jhette's security sensors picked up a newcomer in the building who had selected the 23rd floor when he got in the elevator. Granted, there was business on the lower floors of the building Eyes owned, but no one should have required access to the topmost floor unless they knew the musician personally.

Jhette was immediately on the alert, because whoever this was had avoided detection until now, and had not gotten confirmation or authority to get there. "Warning! Unidentified individual now in the elevator, heading for the 23rd floor. Lockdown commencing until further notice." With that, the elevator stopped dead, with whoever was inside stuck there. Jhette turned to Ayumu, seeming to view him as the temporary leader. "Orders?"

Kosuke had sat up the moment Jhette had given the first word of alarm, a dagger in his hand from who knew where inside his clothes. He relaxed a little as the mechanical Blade Child froze the elevator, but not much. After what he'd just been through, he was not relaxing fully until it was assured that there wasn't a threat to the rest of his family. It had been bad enough to lose Eyes.

With Kousuke on guard and no longer holding onto Ayumu, the young brunette rose to his feet. Something had come over his features the moment the warning had commenced, his eyes cold and more serious than any of had ever seen Ayumu Narumi. He looked at Jhette, pointing to the television monitor that was in the corner of the room.

"Give me live feed from the elevator's security camera there. I need audio. Seal off the top four levels, no one in or out. I want the identity of the stranger now, and if his answer isn't good enough, I set Kousuke and Riku on him."

Riku grinned and cracked her knuckles.

Jhette nodded, his eyes closing as all of his attention turned to changing the wiring of the building to make that live feed possible.

"Your attention, please," he said to the stranger in the elevator, "a screen will appear above the button panel to the right of the door in a few seconds. Please face it and answer the questions given. Also, kindly refrain from any more banging the buttons and swearing. It is very annoying."

After a few more seconds, the wiring and quick installation of the screen and camera into the elevator was done, and the television in the corner of the room of the 23rd floor turned on to show their uninvited guest.

The face that appeared on the television screen looked mildly put out. Dark, merlot-colored hair framed masculine features, the eyes that turned and fixed to the monitor as asked glittered like a pair of peridot gems, pale green and luminous. That they didn't have the tell-tale cat slits was of debatable reassurance. "Fine." His voice was deep, but not abruptly so, just that fine line between tenor and bass.

Ayumu frowned, noticing that the young man carried a rather large black leather duffel bag on one shoulder. "Not only do I want to know what he is, I want to know what he's got with him," the brunette told Jhette sternly, crossing his arms.

Jhette blinked at him. "The stranger can hear you. You requested audio, and so it was done. You can ask your questions freely. However, given the way people often feel about such things, he may protest the 'what is he' part as opposed to 'who'."

"Tough for him," Kosuke growled, glaring suspiciously at the screen. He was on edge, his nerves taut as a wire, and his usual inability to handle surprises rather added to his bad temper. However, since he was working in a dangerous mindset, instead of freezing with unexpected developments, he just got angrier and more focused. One thing was for sure, if this guy turned out to be a danger, Kosuke was going to tear him into little bloody pieces and enjoy doing it.

Rio, who knew Kosuke better than anyone except Eyes, decided she'd pull Ayumu aside and warn him of that at the next opportunity. In that kind of mindset, Kosuke would likely attempt something reckless or stupid without someone keeping an eye on him.

Riku snickered. "He looks so upset that his ride got so abruptly cancelled."

Jhette looked at Ayumu, tilting his head inquiringly. "Would you prefer that I question him, so that he cannot read anything from tone of voice?"

"I think that might be best. I would like to keep a certain amount of anonymity for the moment. No need for him to guess at who _might_ be in this apartment," Ayumu said in a quiet voice.

Jhette nodded and turned his attention back to the disgruntled redhead in the elevator. "You are trespassing upon private property. Please state your name and the nature of your business. If you do not comply, we shall be forced to hang you naked over a pit of hungry wolverines."

Kosuke looked at Jhette's image funny. "Since when did you have a pit of wolverines?" he whispered.

"I do not. It is a threat to encourage compliance. A lie, if you will." the hologram murmured.

"Since when could you...did the Hunter actually program you to _lie_?!"

"Negative. Riku did."

Kosuke gave Riku an even funnier look.

"My name is Shale Thackeray. I was told to go see Eyes Rutherford, but...I don't know if I'm actually here to see him, or just the people that live with him. I was told that someone would ask me for some things..." He crossed his arms. "Besides, being in the building doesn't count as trespassing, it's public property. And you'll forgive me if I don't believe you about the pit of wolverines."

"That's what the last person said. He was a salesman. We use his hide as a tablecloth." Jhette replied.

"What have you been _teaching_ him?" Kosuke hissed at Riku.

Riku snickered. "Only the basics. He got creative all on his own."

"Now," Jhette continued, "please give sufficient evidence to confirm your claim. And identify what is in the bag that you carry."

Shale let out a frustrated sigh because the first request he couldn't really comply with, and that hadn't been intentional. 'Look, I can't give you the sufficient evidence that you want because I was told by someone I trust that I was to go to the home of Eyes Rutherford and bring things for the 'ones that asked' for them. There really isn't all that much substantial proof." His frown deepened a little as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a slightly crumpled piece of paper. "As for what's in the bag... " He squinted at it. "Let's see... One Beretta Bobcat, one Beretta Cougar, one Beretta Brigadier, a flail…oh, and a brand new set of Butterfly Knives."

Kosuke let out a low whistle. "That's quite an arsenal."

Jhette had to agree. "And you brought these for whoever would ask for them?"

"Yes. I thought it might be the famous Eyes Rutherford himself, but the way my friend worded it led me to believe that I wouldn't be talking to him."

"Please wait while your information is processed. In case of the discovery of falsehood, please make sure you are clean, as wolverines are expensive to keep, and a sick one is even more so." Jhette turned to Ayumu. "Have you come to a conclusion?"

Ayumu took a deep breath, studying the man in the screen for several long moments. "Do you three think that you can handle him if we let him up here? He's carrying a lot of firepower, and that's putting it lightly."

Riku shrugged. "Being able to handle him physically shouldn't be a problem with three of us. I mean, it's not like he can draw and use all of those weapons at once."

Kosuke nodded, his eyes hard. "And if needed, I can just torch the whole elevator."

Ayumu gave him a look, but he nodded. "You're going to need to tell us about this friend of yours, but the bag gets checked at the door. That's the only way that you're welcome up to this floor."

Shale held up his hands, much in the way Riku had, to show his lack of will to cause trouble. "If that's the rule, so be it."

Jhette continued to look at Ayumu, waiting for the order to unlock the elevator so that it could continue its ascent.

He ran a hand through his messy dark hair. "Let him up. But keep the camera on him until we can actually see him with our own eyes."

Jhette nodded. And then, out of some half-buried sense of evil humor, suddenly appeared right behind Shale before speaking. "Access granted. Elevator unlocked."

"Gyah!" Shale jumped and plastered himself to the opposite wall. "H-how...what...huh?!"

Jhette did not react to Shale's startlement or stuttering, just standing there, his computer-generated form not moving in the slightest as he watched him. When the doors opened to the 23rd door with a soft ding, Jhette promptly walked right _through_ the tall redhead. "Welcome to the 23rd floor. Please watch your step, and keep your hands in sight at all times."

Somehow, Shale's flustered expression was enough to take the edge off of having a stranger in the house, especially so soon after everything had started to fall apart. It still didn't make them any more trusting of him, and it showed on the not-so-cheerful faces that greeted him as he stepped off the elevator.

Rio walked up and snagged the duffel, staggering under the weight for a minute but stubbornly keeping her footing, carrying it over to Ayumu before opening it and pulling out the various weapons and placing them carefully in neat rows on the floor. Well, except the flail. That particular weapon was too heavy for her to lift easily.

"So who's this 'friend' of yours who knows so much?" Kosuke asked, picking up the flail as if it weighed nothing, which made Rio glare at him.

"A precognitive. That's why I have no evidence for you." His glass-green eyes watched Kousuke carefully as if he knew what kind of threat he posed. He also knew the indications of someone who knew how to use a weapon, and he supposed he found who was supposed to be using the flail. "He walked in, told me where to go and what to bring so..." He spread his hands. "Here I am."

"A precognitive...one who sees visions of the future." Jhette murmured to himself. "A rare Gift, with little information in my databanks about it, save that the gift is often unpredictable and vague."

Rio nodded her understanding, having picked up the bobcat to look more closely at it. She'd always wanted a gun like this... "So your friend had a vision and sent you to us?"

Shale nodded, crossing his arms again. He'd wanted to shove his hands in his pockets, but he didn't want to push his luck and have them assume that he was going for some denim lint as a weapon.

"But he didn't tell you why he sent you here?"

"Nope." He shook his head, strands of hair slipping loose from the sloppy braid he'd put his hair in before arriving. "Just told me that I needed to drop everything and get over here."

"Pushy guy," Kosuke murmured.

"You have no idea," Shale replied with a roll of his pale eyes. "Let me tell you a little bit about Felix…"

//It hadn't been much to look at when he first bought the property, nestled inconspicuously between other storefronts with their flashing lights and displays. Now, about three weeks before its scheduled debut, it bore a simple but bright sign that would be fitting of its surroundings in Electric Town, Akihabara once it was lit for opening night. Shale Thackeray had known what he would call it the moment he laid eyes on it, knew its purpose and what he hoped it could become.

Sanctuary.

The young man waved pleasantly to the truck that pulled away from the back door, tipping his head back to survey the new furniture that had just arrived with pale green eyes. He grinned in satisfaction as he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and moved to start unpacking things. He had only a few weeks left to turn these boxes of furniture, empty glass racks and unfinished bar top into a dance club with all the fixings to keep a crowd happy. It would be a lot of work, but he didn't mind it much. He had very big plans for it.

Perhaps an hour into his unpacking and hauling heavy things around, there was a knock at the door of his soon-to-be club. The sound was sharp and clear, exactly three raps upon the metal frame that echoed tinnily through the mostly empty main area.

Shale paused, glancing around, not really expecting to find anyone but himself there, but it was still unnerving to hear the knock when he wasn't expecting any visitors. Wiping his brow with his arm, he set aside one of the chairs he'd been carrying and went to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open to barely a crack.

Standing on the steps was a young man who couldn't have been more than seventeen, his expression a strange mix of serenity and nothing at all. He was a delicate looking thing, for all that he was easily the same height as Shale, with a slender build and triangular face. His skin was very pale, which made the dark blue color of his braided hair and the knowing black eyes all the more startling. He stood very still, not wasting even a single movement as he looked at the older man. "You are Shale Thackeray, the Watcher." he said quietly, his tone utterly sure of a fact that was supposed to be a closely guarded secret. "I've come to be your bartender."

Two things raced through Shale's mind at once before he could even decide whether he might have known the teenager at his door. The first was that this teenager obviously knew _him_ and the second that he hadn't even put out an ad or a sign for a bartender yet. "E-excuse me?" he said after a moment's hesitation, going with the easier of the two. "I haven't even finished setting up, which means that there won't be a bar to tend for another couple of weeks. You're a bit early."

"Yes, but you are here _now_, and coming to you directly is less trouble than going through the morass that is job interviews. Especially since the reasons that I am the only one who will be suitable for you as a bartender are not something one speaks of with others around. Now let me in, before the two quarreling lovers in the top floor of the building to the right get to the point where the man throws the woman's fish tank out the window and onto these steps. I dislike being wet." the boy replied, his expression and tone never changing. Always serene and matter-of-fact, giving nothing away that he didn't intend.

Shale blinked at him a moment longer, everything else the young man said finally sinking in. _Watcher_... He knew. Did that mean he was...? Stepping aside, he pulled the door open wider, understanding the risk he was putting himself in. As his guest stepped inside, he gave a quick glance out, making a startled sound and barely managing to get the door closed again before there was a wet crash and the splash of water against the doorstep.

One wine-coloured brow rose as he motioned towards a handful of the unpacked chairs. "Have a seat. What's your name?"

"Felix Asher." the boy replied simply, looking at the chairs before settling onto the one on the far right. "And replace the rest of your chairs. You were cheated, and all but this one will fall apart after less than two months of use."

He didn't bother to ask how Felix knew, already putting together a good reason why, so he took the information for what it was. "You realize, Felix, that we shouldn't be communicating, don't you?"

"Perhaps not...but then again, perhaps we should be." Felix replied with a slight shrug. "If you're worried that you might get in trouble with the higher ups for speaking to a Blade Child, then don't bother. Not a single one knows I am here."

"Then I was right," he mused to himself with a shake of his head. Since Felix had predicted a couple of months on the other chairs, he pulled one to him to straddle. "And your bloodline includes a talent for precognition."

Felix nodded, acknowledging the guess as accurate. "I will have other talents in time, but not for many years yet. As things are now, I just follow my visions to produce a future that I feel is beneficial. Because of that, I am here, and you will hire me as your bartender."

At that, Shale couldn't help but smirk. "You're underage."

Without so much as a twitch, Felix dug into his pocket and pulled out an ID card, tossing it to Shale with unerring accuracy, suggesting a good deal of training. "You will find that the card in your hands is perfectly authentic in every way, and states that I turned eighteen two weeks ago. I will simply tell others that I look young for my age. And since I never drink anything that might cloud my visions, you will never have to worry about me dipping into the supplies, as you would with the majority of those that will come inquiring about the job later."

Shale looked it over, unable to keep from looking impressed. Truth be told, he _was_ impressed. After another moment, he handed it back over to the well-composed Blade Child. "Why would you want to work for me? I know Watchers that have close relationships with those they look after, but usually not to the Blade Child's knowledge. What is it you're after, Felix?"

"Survival." the blue-haired boy replied flatly. "You know just as well as I that Blade Children are doomed from birth. Fate will swallow most of us at twenty years of age, and is already taking a few who have matured early. Those that manage to resist the call, including myself, will be slaughtered. I dislike that future. It's far too much work, and death is irritating. From here, you and I will create a network and a sanctuary that can help to bring about something better than a rain of blood."

Shale listened, and inwardly, he was relieved. If Felix had turned out to be one of those Blade Children that supported Fate, he didn't think that his main purpose of the club could have worked. Yet turning Felix away would have gone against that very same ideal he was trying to create. "You don't have to act as if it was your idea," he said, though he couldn't help but laugh at his own words. It was as if this Blade Child had known the moves he wanted to make, and he finally had someone that could make them with him.

For the first time, Felix smiled. It was a remarkably impish expression on that delicate face. "Perhaps not just my idea. As it is, I will know the steps that need to be taken. You, as an adult of society, have the means to take those steps. And maybe I can give you advice to keep you from getting dumped by women after just the second date as seems to be your normal pattern."

"I think I'm going to have to get used to having someone around who knows as much as you do," Shale replied, making a face as he turned his nose up. "You should know better than to mock your elders." However, he was smiling before all the words had even left his mouth. He already knew he would like Felix...whether he wanted to or not.

A slender brow rose. "And try to hold it all in? Far too much effort." Those sharp black eyes suddenly grew distant for a few seconds, and when they came back into focus, the smile on Felix's face was wry. "By the way, don't go out the back door tonight. Those two quarreling lovers I mentioned will be doing an encore there, and you may find that unpleasant."

"Great, thanks." Shale tilted his head. "Does that happen...constantly?" He couldn't imagine trying to look out through normal eyes and seeing other things flash behind it.

"Yes. There is no way I know of to stop the visions besides drinking or drugging myself into oblivion, and I consider both the process and the cleanup to be too much of a hassle." Felix replied with a shrug. "Mostly I just see small things. A little girl dropping a quarter, a businessman buying surprise flowers for his wife, a certain Watcher buying a building in hopes of creating a club that will be more than it seems. And the closer to _now_ a vision is, the clearer it is. Futures change at the drop of a hat, and looking too far ahead leads to nothing but confusion. But sometimes I get strong visions, of things that are essential to one future or another. Sleep brings those easier than waking, so never awaken me from sleep. Let me rise naturally."

"Let you rise..." Shale gave him a look, tilting his head. "So you're not only asking me for a job, but you plan to become my roommate?"

"Well, I'm certainly not asking to be your lover. Not only are you older than I prefer, but you are impossibly straight, and I find that boring." Felix replied with a little sniff. "You intend to put living quarters on the second floor of this place. There is space for more than one bedroom."

"There is, and it doesn't even do me any good to ask what if I was planning to do something else with it, because you already know I had no plans." He sighed, long-suffering but good-naturedly. "Very well. I'm hoping that this works out. Anyone who associates with Blade Children is understandably suspicious, but I'll take a chance. I want this to work as much as you say you do."

"I merely want a future for myself that is more than blackness. You wish a future that does not involve the deaths of either innocents or children. With the help of others, we can make this work."

"Good. Then you're hired. Welcome to Sanctuary."

Felix merely nodded. "Excellent. Now let's see about getting this area properly outfitted. If we do it right the first time, we don't have to go through the trouble of doing it again later. As I'm sure you'll realize, I'm something of a lazy Blade Child, and prefer not to go through too much trouble."//

"_Really _pushy," Kousuke amended, absently bouncing the large metal ball in his right hand.

"Kosuke, don't fiddle with that thing so close to me. You could hurt someone." Rio snapped.

Kosuke glared at her. "I _like_ this weapon, Rio. And I know perfectly well how to use it."

Shale shrugged. "Truth of the matter is that by now I know Felix well enough to know that he's just lazy enough to get by, so when he shows urgency to anything, that's when I take notice."

Ayumu put a hand on Kousuke's shoulder. He was no empath, but he knew that anything that rubbed the redhead the wrong way wasn't going to help the situation. "And why would you want to help us?"

Shale snorted and gave a wry grin. "There aren't many involved with the Blade Children that don't know about Eyes Rutherford and his denial of Fate. He makes his stand blatantly obvious, and personally, I agree with him. If Felix says I'm supposed to help him, that's all I need."

Riku studied him critically, amethyst eyes scrutinizing Shale as he spoke. "But you're _not_ a Blade Child. If you were a Savior, you wouldn't advocate Eyes's cause, and your story is too elaborate to merely be a Hunter's ruse. You don't have the advantage here, no matter what lie you could spin. So either you're just a really informed guy, or you're—"

"A Watcher," Shale finished for her, a somewhat guilty smile on his face. "By that very title, I shouldn't be here, and certainly not with weapons for you to go running off to fight with. But as you've already learned, Felix makes himself very compelling to follow." The smile faded, his expression dead serious. "No matter what anyone thinks, you were given life, which means you should live. Not be controlled, not be hunted down like wild animals. I've been part of this project for a long time, long enough to know that after the first wave of Hunters, a count of eighty Blade Children, with potential futures, dropped to fifty-eight. Twenty-two wasted lives, all for the whims of a madman."

"If what we're planning doesn't work, it'll be fifty-seven." Kosuke growled at him, something in his eyes very dark and wild, like an approaching hurricane. "Eyes was just taken by fate an hour ago." He was an empath, and as much as he didn't usually trust strangers, the empathy had made it so that lying to him was impossible unless the liar was shielded. Shale wasn't, and he had been truthful.

Ayumu kept quiet about the wolves from his own capture, not wanting to dig up the old dirt when there was more than enough fresh dirt as it was. He glanced over at the other teen, wanting to get him alone for a moment.  
"Rio.... keep an eye on our... guest a moment. Kousuke, come with me."

Rio looked up at him and nodded, but reached up to pull his ear down to her level. "Just be careful. Kosuke's very bad with guilt, and he usually gets angry and unpredictable when in that kind of situation. He won't hurt _you_, but he's likely to do something reckless or stupid if not watched. Eyes will walk back from England and murder us if we let Kosuke get himself killed."

Ayumu nodded. "Why do you think I'm taking care of it now." He ruffled her hair affectionately and then turned to gently take Kousuke's arm. "Please.." he murmured, and it wasn't always that he asked nicely.

Kosuke blinked at him, looking surprised at the quiet plea, but nodded and let Ayumu lead him off. As tumultuous as he felt inside, this was still Ayumu, the other man he loved, and he instinctively gentled a little when close to him.

Riku watched them go, Ayumu tugging the other into Kousuke's bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. "Maybe he can take care of that problem before it gets out of hand."

"Agreed." Jhette replied, walking around Shale as he'd walked around Hiyono, taking in all visual data for his files. "Asazuki Kosuke is not safe. Time bombs are not good for rescues."

Kosuke let Ayumu lead him, wondering where the other boy was taking him. Away from the others, with the brunette so close and holding onto his arm, the redhead had the terrible urge to just break down and cry some more, but he fought that. He hated to cry, no matter if he needed it or not.

When they were in Kousuke's room, Ayumu shut the door behind them and turned to face the redhead. He wasn't sure what he'd say or do, knowing that the Blade Child was walking a fine line of control and lack of it. He didn't want to be responsible for tipping the scales the wrong way. "Tell me what I can do," he finally said after a moment of careful consideration. He nibbled his lower lip for a moment, a nervous habit that few ever saw. "I want to help you now because...because I need you. In order to be strong enough to try to save Rutherford, I need you. If you lose control and do something stupid... I'll lose both of you."

Kosuke stared at him, that horrible dark pain naked in his eyes, turning the usually warm green-gold shade to something more closely resembling burnt evergreen. And perhaps that was what it was. A great deal of Kosuke's strength had been spent to try and keep Eyes, and now it was almost like he'd been burned out from the inside. He slowly shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know how you could help me, or how to make it stop hurting. All I know is that I couldn't save him before, and if I can't save him at all, the pain's going to get a lot worse…and I won't want to live with it anymore…"

Ayumu swallowed hard, losing himself in those eyes, and he knew that if they didn't move fast, the pain would swallow Kousuke whole, and it would never let him go. It hurt him to see the normally vivacious teen like this, he'd tried so hard to hang onto Eyes, and it must have felt like having a part of him ripped away. Ayumu faltered for a way to comfort him, but stepped forward anyway, tentatively wrapping his arms around Kousuke. "I…can't make the pain go away…but I am going to tell you now to stop thinking about the ifs. Let me work around the here and now and stay by my side. I need you now." He wanted Kousuke to know that he wasn't totally helpless, even though he couldn't save Eyes. Ayumu was pretty sure that no one could have saved him, at least not in time. "Be my strength so that I can be our mind. I promise that I'm going to do what I can to bring Eyes home, okay?"

Kosuke shuddered in his arms, then went limp against him, burying his face in Ayumu's neck and shoulder to hide the tears that started to fall. "And if you can't? I have to think about the ifs, Ayumu. The others won't, because their faith in you, Eyes, and just plain dumb luck is too strong. I have to be cynical, I HAVE to think about what might go wrong, or nothing's going to be ready if it actually happens." He took a shuddering breath, but did not sob or make any sound that would have betrayed tears, weeping with the silence of someone who had grown up knowing he was hunted. "I…I don't want the others to come with us…"

Ayumu knew Kousuke was crying, and he tightened his hold, making no other obvious motions that he knew. It would help the redhead to feel better if he thought his tears were a well-kept secret. "Kousuke...we might need their help... Look how famously I held up against Kanone and Cassandra," he said bitterly, mocking himself and knowing he was partially quite honest. "Do you really think that we could do it alone? We were sent help for a reason.."

"I know it's dangerous, and I know it's stupid, but…" he shook his head, holding Ayumu tighter to him. "If Eyes can't be saved, I'll have to kill him, Ayumu. Not only is he too dangerous to be left to Fate, with all his power and connections, but it's what he'd want. You and I both know he'd prefer death to being made to hurt the people he cares about. I don't want the others to see that, if it happens. Or worse, forced to make that choice themselves if something happens to me. It'd be hard enough without them there, for me to look at the face of someone I love and strike him down. I couldn't bear it with the others watching while I killed the one that carried all their hopes for so long."

No matter how much Ayumu wanted to berate Kousuke for being so reckless, logic pointed out to him that the other was right. Watching Eyes die because of the very thing he had been fighting would no doubt fracture the tentative hope he'd built within his small family. It would be bad enough that Ayumu might have to be there, for Eyes had been the first to awaken his intelligence in opposition to Kiyotaka, the first to give him something worth fighting for. It had gotten him into so much trouble he could barely keep up, but he respected Eyes for that and what he represented.  
"I can't say that the girls will easily go along with that. But… if that's what you want, then I agree to it," Ayumu finally said, not sure if he was making the right decision. There was no real way to be sure of anything anymore, and Ayumu knew that he'd have to make some serious choices by the time they encountered Eyes. They said they wouldn't force him to be the Hope, and not even Kousuke had asked when they were together. His decision might be the only thing that could save Eyes, and he was damn scared of it. "Thank you…for thinking of the things that we're afraid to, but I really hope it doesn't come to that. Just promise me that you'll try and control yourself. I can't take Eyes's role and keep an eye on you at the same time."

"The girls don't even have to know until it's too late, if we just sneak out with Jhette." Kosuke pointed out. Then he sighed and pulled back a little, meeting Ayumu's golden eyes. "As for the promise…I'll do what I can up until we get to Eyes, but if worse comes to worse and I have to do the unthinkable…I don't promise anything. Just the thought of hurting him makes me feel ill. I don't know what actually killing him might do, and as much as I love you, it may not be enough to keep me grounded if he dies." He hated having to say that, hated the circumstances, hated even himself for being in that position. But he knew that in this case, the most respect he could give Ayumu was to be completely honest, no matter how much the truth hurt them both.

Tears stung the back of Ayumu's eyes before he even realize the sadness that was rising up in him. If they both left.. who could he find that moved him so deeply? It was selfish, he knew, but Eyes and Kousuke seemed to know him, respect him, and had become an integral part of his life. Granted, not all of it was pleasant, not all of it could be so easily accepted and returned. But what Kousuke was telling him implied that not only had he lost Eyes, but he could lose Kousuke as well. Already, he felt empty to consider that. However, he knew how much he owed these two Blade Children, what they had done for him in spite of all of his anger, pain and denial.  
Meeting Kousuke's gaze, he didn't bother to hold back the tears now. They slid down his face like silent little traitors. "I understand. If…I'm not enough… then I'll… I'll give you freedom too," he whispered.

Kosuke leaned over and lapped gently at Ayumu's tears. "It's not that you're not enough," he whispered against the damp skin, "I love you just as deeply as I love Eyes, no more and no less. It's more that I'm not as strong as you are, and in this case, you'll need all of your strength just to get us out. I can't take that from you to keep myself sane, if I want you to survive. If I have to kill Eyes, I don't want to watch you die too. It would be…too much…"

"I won't hurt you that way.." Ayumu whispered, turning his head to catch Kousuke's lips in a light, shy kiss. He could taste the salt of his own tears on the redhead's lips, and more escaped his eyes. "I want to be strong enough to save you both. Just please…believe in me one more time."

Kosuke smiled. It was shaky and fragile, but it was still a smile, just for Ayumu. "I will always believe in you," he whispered, and the words had the weight of a sacred vow. One that he sealed with a gentle kiss of his own, capturing Ayumu's lips and just drinking in the presence of the other boy as a balm to his soul.

Those words were like something hot around a cold fear, melting it away. He returned the kiss with a press of relief and purpose. When he pulled away, the hardness from Ayumu's expression seemed to vanish into his amber eyes, a smile pulling at his lips. He had never smiled with that much confidence before, not even when he'd saved his own life back at the river with Rio. It meant more to him than anything anyone had ever said to him, and he made sure Kousuke knew that. "Thank you."

The redhead's heart nearly burst, seeing the confidence and warmth in that smile. It was what they'd all hoped to see, and it was a much-needed moment of joy for Kosuke during this dark hour. "Thank _you_," he murmured, "for understanding. And for trying to keep me safe, even though I'm still going to go do something dangerous. The girls will be upset, but…"

"But like you said, they don't need to know about it until we're already gone. I'm sure you already know what kind of lecture we'll be in for when we get back." Ayumu touched his face gently.

Kosuke leaned his face into the touch with a soft sigh. Now that he'd calmed down a little, he was tired, and it was good to just have that moment of quiet before all the insanity started up again. "I suppose we should go back to the others for now, if just to make sure that guy Shale is secured for the night. We could sneak off after they're all asleep or something."

Ayumu nodded. "We should also get some rest of our own. You wouldn't...mind if I stayed here...with you, would you?"

"Nah," Kosuke answered with a wry smile. "It's kind of pathetic, but…I'm not really used to sleeping alone anymore. Eyes decided that I make a great teddy bear, I guess. So as long as the blankets on my bed don't send you into epileptic fits…"

"I think I'll survive." Ayumu pressed one last kiss to Kousuke's lips before turning for the door. "Let's make sure nobody's killed each other, shall we?"

"Yeah."


End file.
